Suspension
by A Keet Potato
Summary: For Leo, an orphan struggling to survive on the streets, life is just one day of struggle after another. Then another planet mysteriously appears in the sky, and Leo's life is saved by a mysterious benefactor. While an invading army lays waste to the city, Leo and some new friends prepare to mount a counter attack against the other planet and discover the truth about the war.
1. Chapter 1

Leo was taking the bus back to the hideout when he ran into a guy.

Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. It was late morning, around eleven, just about the time you begin to get hungry for lunch or a snack, when Leo got on the bus.

Leo was nearing his fifteenth birthday, but all you need to know about the first fourteen years of his life is that he was a young Shinx and an orphan, hanging with a gang of delinquents.

He considered himself a coward. Whenever the boss declared war on a rival gang he would conveniently call in sick. Whenever they would pass around the stardust or nuggets he would say he'd just ate and couldn't pop any on account of nausea. This was an outright lie, and everyone knew it. Leo would have been lucky if there was any water to drink- not even the leader had any proper food.

Leo was coming back from one depressingly bleak empty area to a hideout where things were unlikely to be much better.

Fortunately for his sake and the sake of this story, his future held many circumstances that proved to be much, much more exhilarating. And this future began with that stranger on that bus that morning.

You know that annoying situation when you're the only person on the bus and someone comes right over and sits next to you even though they could choose from two dozen other seats? That someone was this someone, the charmander who would set events into motion.

Leo glanced over at his unwanted seatmate and grumbled something about unwritten and sacred rules of bus etiquette. The newcomer was pretty tall, nearly half a head taller than Leo even if the shinx stood on his hind legs.

The charmander glanced at Leo briefly, then studied his surroundings in that half-hearted way that people do when they are trying to act innocent. This suspicious act piqued Leo's interest, and nervousness replaced his frustration.

He was wondering if he should say something along the lines of "Do I know you?" or "Am I bothering you?" when a loud rumbling shook the bus, accompanied by a flash of light. Outside the bus window, the entire sky was split with fire.

Flaming wreckage from one of the skyscrapers fell in front of the bus as other vehicles swerved off the road and pokemon poured into and out of buildings like startled ants.

The bus pulled to an abrupt halt, skidding sideways. Leo felt his body leave the seat, tumbling off to one side, limbs flailing. The char grabbed Leo's hindpaw, stopping him from being catapulted out the window.

With a crash, the bus collided with a fire hydrant, finishing the job that the brakes had started as water gushed into the air. Putting Leo back down in the middle of the seat, the char stood up, sauntered forward to the front of the bus, and jumped out the broken windshield.

Leo took several tentative steps forward, unsure if following the char would be more dangerous than staying put in the bus.

The bus, in a way, represented what Leo's life had been like. It was empty, uncomfortable, and it was on fire, but it had some sort of nostalgic value for him. On the other hand, it was on fire. This fact influenced Leo's decision to leave pretty heavily.

He walked slowly up to the front of the bus, pausing to stare at the driver who was slumped over the steering wheel. Leo was considering shocking the hapless mon back to the land of the living when a charmander head popped back up in the shattered windshield, it's metallic claws grasping the jagged glass edge.

"You coming or what?" The char asked in a brusque tone because he was holding himself up with sharp, broken glass.

Leo didn't reply.

The char sighed. "We've got to hurry. Come on and leave this bus if you want to live."

Leo took another step to the windshield and stared upwards in horror. There was no sky anymore. It was completely blotted out-replaced by another urban city. It wasn't far away, either. The top of its tallest skyscraper just barely touched against the tallest in Leo's city.

The char looked at Leo questioningly and dropped to the ground. Leo left the bus, but he sensibly used the stairs and the door.

Outside, the char was picking through the slivers of glass from the windshield to uncover a manhole cover. He lifted it with ease, revealing a small compartment of sealed metal boxes instead of a sewer entrance like Leo was expecting.

At this time, the bus finally got around to exploding spectacularly. Leo realized to his horror that the bus driver was still on board, the latest casualty of the disaster.

The char began to lift metal boxes out of the hole without missing a beat or even changing his expression.

Leo sat down and tried to catch his breath. "Dude!" he said, his voice cracking from panic. "The bus driver was in there!"

Reaching back into the hole, the char picked up a long metal rod with grips mounted under it. "It doesn't really matter. He was already dead." the charmander said, slinging the rod over his shoulder. "A shard of glass in the neck tends to do that to a guy."

Leo wasn't sure what to make of all this, so he forced out the first words that came to mind. "What's the rod for?" Leo asked.

"It's a precautionary measure if we run into any trouble. So try not to." the char answered while scanning the rows of buildings lining the desolate street.

Taken aback by the answer, Leo asked, "Does that mean you're trying to protect me? Why? I'm just a worthless street cat-Why would anyone care about my life?"

The char hoisted one of the boxes of supplies over his shoulder and grinned, showing his fangs as he did so. "You're Leo, aren't you?" he said.

"Well, yeah," Leo replied, "but-"

"But nothing!" The charmander said, beginning to slowly walk away from the bus. "It's not my job to question orders."

Leo put his head through a bag's handle and followed. "What is your job then?" he asked.

"My job, my life's work is to protect things." said the stranger. "I've always been good at it- it's the only thing I'm really good at. It doesn't really matter who or what I'm protecting, as long as it's my job set before me."

Leo sighed. "That doesn't really help me at all. Can you tell me your name?"

"Cole. My name is Cole. That's all you need to know. We have to get underground, now. I expect that my superiors are eager to hear of my success."

Leo felt somewhat strange. "Wait… Did you say underground?"

"Yeah." Cole replied. "First though, we've got to get to one of the elevators. The one I came up on should be somewhere that way." Cole began walking swiftly on the left side of the road, and motioned for Leo to follow him.

Leo struggled to keep up, partly because of his shorter legs and partly because Cole walked really fast.

"Stay close and watch my back," Cole cautioned. "If you see anything or anyone unusual, give me a holler."

"There's another city above our city." Leo said. "I don't know if unusual really has the same meaning that it used to."

"Just yell if you see anything move." Cole said. "That simple enough for you?"

Leo nodded his assent.

Actually, the job was simple. Nothing was moving for as far as Leo could see except for the pillars of smoke rising from burning buildings. Looking up, Leo could see similar fires consuming the city above.

The shadows in the corners of the streets were the only things that Leo found strange- they seemed to ripple occasionally, forming outlines that were like looking through water. When he blinked, the disturbances disappeared. Leo thought about saying something, but was worried that Cole wouldn't believe him or think he was just saying things.

After walking several blocks, our heroes arrived at the wall of a small unassuming building that Leo guessed was an abandoned coffee shop. Two metal doors began to slide open, but stopped as the street's power went out, along with the few unbrokestreet lamps.

Leo saw movement out of the corner of his eye. "Cole!" he shouted. "I think we've got company!"

Cole was by Leo's side in an instant, rod raised towards the buildings opposite them. Two figures silhouetted against the burning city in the sky appeared, poking their heads over the top of the closest building. Leo squinted closer, and saw that each apparition had three glowing green eyes.

Cole swore and pulled the rod's trigger, launching a metal ball through a window on the other building. Seconds later, the top part of the building burst into blue flames.

The two figures moved back from the top of the roof.

"Go!" Cole yelled, and began prying the stuck doors open, claws glowing white as they bent the metal. Leo pushed himself past Cole to the door and looked forward into darkness. Orange emergency lights lined the dark shaft downwards for as far as Leo could see. It didn't take a genius to tell that they could never survive the fall.

Cole scooped up the rod again, firing at the front door of the building to create a wall of fire in front of the intruders. One burst through the door foot first, it's black body suit leaving wisps of smoke as it charged toward them.

Leo stood motionless on the edge of the drop. _Why… Why can't I move? I'm still just a cowardly street cat-  
_

He opened his eyes and found himself falling, the lights on the side of the tunnel blurring past him faster and faster each passing second.

Cole's arm was wrapped tightly around his leg, a look of pain on his face. The rod was tumbling over and over next to them, a thin wisp of smoke leaving it's barrel. The only sound was the rushing of the wind and the whoosh of Cole's tailflame, elongated by the air rushing past them

And at that moment Cole and Leo entered the geofront.


	2. Chapter 2

The camera array targeted the falling figures, providing high-resolution close ups of Leo's terrified face from several different angles. Far below, a figure watching behind a screen smiled in approval and reached to the microphone mounted on his desk.

"Attention all personnel. The chicken has flown the coop. Begin all preparations and activate all failsafe measures." Someone else appeared from the darkness.  
"Hey." the mysterious lurker said. The official turned in his seat, surprise written on his face. "Guy, shouldn't you be downstairs right now?" he said. 'Guy' shrugged with indifference. "I can get down there in a few seconds if I take your elevator. Also, those dudes are still falling. Got any good ideas on how to catch them?"

The official smirked and pressed a button. Eight electromagnetic motors spun to life, activating two parts of the elevator shaft's anti-gravity drive. Cole and Leo literally stopped falling and turned over and over in midair, suspended over a mile above the floor of the geofront. Another button and the elevator shot up from the bottom station to rescue the hapless heroes.  
'Guy' whistled appreciatively. "Nice job. I'll be heading downstairs now." The seated man grinned, and switched his monitor over to diagnostics.

Leo was too busy trying to understand that he had stopped falling to recognize the elevator coming upwards. He was trying to figure out why a metallic square was getting larger suddenly, and then it hit him. Literally, as in the elevator crashed into him.  
Leo and Cole lay on the top for a minute or so. Cole got up first, and opened a hatch on the top of the elevator. He gestured for Leo to jump down inside. Unlike last time, Leo jumped without hesitation and made a perfect four-point landing on the thick elevator carpet.

After a quick glance upwards, he stepped to the side as Cole followed. Leo noticed that the walls of the elevator were made of glass, giving him a much better view of the geofront.  
There was a huge grassy field with a large park in the middle, and several dome-shaped buildings surrounding that. The ceiling of the huge dome covering the entire area seemed to be made of natural rock except for it's uncanny smoothness.

Cole hit the button to make the elevator return to the ground floor. Leo was left alone with his thoughts.  
_He's angry at me… I should have just jumped when he asked. Now that he knows I'm such a coward, he won't trust me with anything anymore. Why couldn't I just jump? _

With a woosh, a trap door slid open on the roof of one of the dome buildings seen from above to accommodate the elevator. The buttons flashed and the doors opened. The charmander walked over to the door and turned around. "This is the dormitory. Your room should be on the right, next to mine. Just call if you need anything-we've got different departments to handle any eventuality." he said.

Leo thanked him and stepped into the dormitory. Cole left in the other direction, muttering something about being on time. Leo decided that just standing around wouldn't get him anything, and decided to start looking for the room that Cole had promised.  
There were only four rooms- two on each side of the small hallway. Leo walked to the door on the right and was mildly disturbed by the fact that his name was already printed on it. _I guess that settles it-they knew I was coming. Spooky. _The door was already unlocked.

Behind the door was a small efficiency apartment, with a television, a recliner and a well stocked minifridge. There also was a closet-sized bedroom and an impossibly small bathroom. There wasn't a stove, but Leo wasn't much of a cook anyway. Struggling to survive doesn't lend itself to luxury.  
As he checked the tv, he noticed it only had three channels-one was some kind of private newscast, one had security camera footage for most of the geofront and surface, and one was specifically for the gaming systems.  
Leo examined the surface cameras to get a better look at the other city, but the picture wasn't really clear at all because of the extreme distance. He did see some fires in the streets and some damaged buildings. Pretty much everyone on both sides were hidden, and the news channel was just broadcasting a test pattern.  
Leo turned the TV off and draped himself over the couch's armrest, falling asleep in minutes.

Leo was startled by a knock on the door. The clock said it was almost 2:30, which meant he might have slightly overslept. "Who is it?" Leo called out, momentarily forgetting that whoever it was probably outranked him. Even if it was the janitor. And considering these people had an underground base, the janitor definitely outranked an ordinary street cat.

The door began to shake again. "Sorry! Sorry, I'm coming!" Leo did a rather impressive flip off the couch and opened the door. He came face to face with a red eye, which belonged to a Yamask floating in front of the door. Instead of a mask, the ghost-type held a pushbroom with his tail thingy.  
Leo tried desperately to think of something to say. "I'm guessing you're the janitor? If you're here to clean my room-it's already pretty clea-"  
He was cut off with a stare that would have boiled water. Leo moved aside and let the guy pick up some cleaning supplies from the room's closet. Abruptly, the door banged shut behind him.

Sitting down outside the door, Leo heard the phone Cole had given him ringing from inside the room.  
He was caught between answering the phone and suffering the wrath of the temperamental janitor, so he opened the door a crack and said, "Hey, that's my phone ringing. Can you throw it out here to me?" A moment later, the phone impacted Leo in the face, sending his ears into a fit of ringing. Leo took the call, and Cole's voice crackled over the speaker.

"Hey, just wanting to see if you're ready for this afternoon! Did the janitor show up?" Cole said.

"Yeah. He did. Did I make him angry or something?" Leo asked.

"No. He just really hates dirt. He can take you where you need to go. Try not to worry so hard. I'll explain more later." The phone went dead.

Leo decided to take his chances and yell to the janitor again. "Hey, janitor-" The door swung open a crack, revealing the Yamask's face. "People call me Guy." the Yamask said. "What kind of name is Guy?" Leo said. "I suppose yours is much better?" was Guy's response. "Leo. My name's Leo. Did Cole ask you to help me out? I've got no idea where to go next."

"Hold on one second." was Guy's reply as he ducked back into the room, shutting the door behind him. Instantly a loud crashing noise began inside. Leo tilted his head to the side, trying to understand why the Yamask was yelling "GIGA DUST BREAKER!" at the top of his lungs.  
The door swung open and Guy placed his mop back into it's bucket.

"Alright then. Let's get going-I don't think the boss will be happy if we're late." The ghost-type began to float down the hall toward the far end door.

Leo followed, trotting down the hallway to keep up with the other pokemon. "Why? Cole didn't say anything about this-Where are we going?" the Shinx asked.

Guy turned to Leo without slowing down. "To the hangar." he said simply. "We want you to work for us, Leo. You care about your city, don't you? What if I told you that you had an opportunity to protect our people in this time of crisis?"  
Leo wasn't sure what to think. _What is this guy talking about? If I could help people and protect them… This city hasn't been all that good to me- they were more than happy to look the other way while we starved. But that doesn't mean that they're bad, either! If I can protect the gang, then maybe I can repay them for letting me run with them. And if I can help anyone else, that'd be just great. Most of them don't deserve to die…  
_Guy reached out and grabbed Leo's leg, pulling him forward toward the door. Leo yelped in suprise as Guy pushed the door open with his other arm. The door lead to the outside of the geofront, and a small bench sat between them and a lowered set of train tracks. "What?" Leo said. "Are we taking a train?" Guy simply made a gesture as the train pulled into the station.

The train was, interestingly enough, lacking a roof or walls. Other passengers would have sat in seats mounted on flat cars, but there were none besides Cole and Leo. Rain was gently falling, because the geofront was big enough to have it's own weather system. The rain just bounced off an invisible dome over each train car.

"That has got to be the most impressively impractical thing yet." Leo said. "Guy, can I ask you a question?" Guy turned a bleary eye toward his young charge. "Shoot." he said. "If this place has so much funding, why do they still have janitors instead of cleaning robots or something?" Leo asked.

Guy chucked. "Son, I've been working here since this place was dug- Pheonix just can't bring himself to finally let me go."

The train came to a halt, and the domes switched off.

"So who is this Pheonix, Guy?" Leo said. "He's the boss and founder of SEAL, and even though there's a governing council, they would gladly blow up the base if he asked politely." Guy said. "SEAL? What does that stand for?" Leo said. "It stands for **S**ecret **E**cological **A**tmospheric **L**evel. Or something like that. It seems that we're at the hangar." Guy answered.

They exited the train in front the largest dome in the center of the geofront. Examining his surroundings, Leo was surprised to see many statues of other Pokemon spread in a circle around a fountain in the middle of the train station. It seemed like a memorial of some sort.

The statue closest to him was of a Raichu, done with incredible detail. Looking closer, Leo noted each individual strand of hair carved into the stone as if they were sparking with electricity. Guy noticed that Leo had stopped and turned back toward him. "Do you like it?" Guy asked. "Yeah. It must have taken years to carve." Leo answered. "Actually, only seven months. This place is a graveyard of sorts, for those who sacrificed their lives so that the rest of us could know peace."

Neither of them said a word for a moment.  
"We've got to get going." Guy said. "You can come back later and I can explain who they all are. But now, it is your time. You won't want to keep the others waiting." With that, the ghost-type began to float down the path toward the sizable dome.

Leo paused briefly in front of three statues of a Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Scyther poised against an unknown threat, before taking off after his guide. Several huge blast doors loomed over them as they walked down the path leading to the hangar dome, which several large signs named as such in various fonts, colors, and languages. Guy approached confidently and came to a halt as Leo hung slightly behind him. An ear-shattering grinding noise began as the doors began to swing open to reveal a completely ordinary metal door set into the wall.

Guy pushed the door open to reveal a giant white figure towering over him. The ghost turned around to see Leo unmoving with a look of pure shock on his face. Guy sighed and grabbed onto Leo's paw, pulling him inside as the door shut automatically.  
Leo snapped himself out of his daze and stared more closely at the giant's face. A dragon-like muzzle was set below two sets of faintly glowing blue eyes. Two fins ending in white tufts of fur emerged from it's shoulders. The white titan resembled some sort of legend, easily fifteen or twenty times Leo's height.  
A voice rang through the hangar, originating from the white dragon even though it's mouth failed to move at all. "You got here early, Leo. Nice job." Somehow, the voice seemed oddly familiar to Leo.  
"Cole?" Leo asked. "Yeah. I'm piloting this thing." Cole responded. "We call it Model R. Essentially, it's a giant robot and SEAL's pride and joy. My job is to protect what's left of the city from the other world's army. I called you here a bit early so that you can get suited up and in your robot."

Leo slumped back on his hindquarters.  
_My own giant robot? Who the hell do they think I am? Do they want me to protect people with one of those-those things? I'm going to be lucky if I can even get something like that to move at all._

Guy started to say something, but Cole cut him off.  
"We need to be going. Guy?" Cole said. "Yes?" was Guy's response. "I'm afraid I can't let you come any farther." Cole said. "We have to get going. Thanks for that-I owe you another one."  
Guy executed an exaggerated bow without any part of him touching the ground."The pleasure was all mine, good man."

Cole turned toward Leo and grinned as he helped him up with a single one of the model's fingers. The effect of seeing the smile on the model's gigantic face was somewhat unsettling.

"You ready to get suited up?" the pilot asked. Leo got the feeling his answer didn't really matter.  
"Yeah. I'm ready to go and bravely run away." the Shinx replied sarcastically.


	3. Chapter 3

Leo and Model R entered a gigantic white room, with large glass windows making up one of the walls. Several large blast doors lay along the opposite side, leading to the cockpits. At the far end of the room were two gigantic tanks filled with a faintly yellow liquid, partially sunken into the floor and surrounded by pipes and hoses. The tank on the right was empty.

"Hurry." crackled Cole's voice, snapping Leo out of his stupor. "The cockpits are over there, you can control the model remotely from here."  
Leo ran up to the blast door marked with a large black Z while Cole's model walked up to the gigantic windows. The door opened with frightening rapidity, and he saw behind it a relatively small room. The only defining feature was the white pod embedded into the floor, with wires strung out of every port on the sides. Leo pitied the guy who had to organize and clean all of that.

Looking up, he saw several security cameras move to keep a clear view of his face. He asked, "So what now?" even though it was quite obvious. And then Leo wondered what would happen if he refused. They probably could threaten him, blackmail him, or even kill him if he resisted. But there was no reason to go down that path. He was getting his own giant robot! That's like every teenager's dream...right? If the gang could see him now, they would be positively livid with jealousy.  
_And if I could help out my city in any way possible, that would be just gravy. Who knows? Maybe this is my destiny or something. _

So the little Shinx got into the pod and the glass slid over his head. The pod wasn't particularly comfortable, but not back-breaking either. Before Leo had the chance to wonder about what to do next, the system activated on it's own. Leo was expecting some kind of flashy startup sequence, which is why it was mildly surprising when everything became tinged with a faint yellow color. Leo tried to open his mouth to complain that this stupid pod was broken, and then was faced with the terribly unfortunate sensation of water flooding into his lungs.

He reflexively reached down to grab at his hind legs, but they weren't there. Instead Leo was curled up in the classic fetal position, staring blankly at two armored legs through a haze of yellow. He was piloting Model Z-and drowning before he had the chance to do anything!  
The Shinx screamed, a long, low gurgling sound, and slumped back into the seat as the yellow faded away, only to be replaced with a blinding whiteness. The glass cover of the pod pulled off, and Leo stared into a pair of uncannily yellow eyes.

A voice asked-"What happened? Are you alright?"  
"I tried to say something and I started drowning all of the sudden!"Leo complained. He determined that the voice was a male. And was actually concerned.  
"I was expecting some kind of login sequence or something..." Leo continued. "I got surprised because I got caught off guard." As his eyes began to clear he got a better look at the newcomer. He seemed to be a Raichu.  
"Are you a technician?" Leo asked. "'Cause I think I need some help here..."  
"I'm no technician- but I may be able to teach you a thing or two about Model Z." said the Raichu. "Maybe you synchronized so fast you caught the model off guard... Are you willing to listen to an old-timer like myself?"  
"You don't look that old..." Leo said.  
"I'm not, actually." the Raichu chuckled. "It's just that most pilots are young like yourself so that they can better adapt to controlling the model."  
"But it's not impossible for someone older to, right? Couldn't you do this instead of me?" Leo begged.

For a moment, it seemed as if a great sadness overtook the mouse, and he looked downward away from Leo.  
_Whoa...I didn't expect that reaction...Ten bucks says he's got a troubled backstory._

"Just... Please get in the pod. I'll explain later." the Raichu said.  
"But that's what Cole said!" Leo shouted. "That's all I've ever gotten as a response since everything went pear-shaped earlier today! Why won't anyone give me any answers around here!" The Raichu looked up. This time his gaze expressed determination rather than pain.  
"You want answers?" he spat. "Then it's answers I'll give. Get into that pod and I'll tell you whatever I can." Leo got back into the pod and lay down. This time there was a quick flash of the SEAL logo against a black background just before he found himself in a completely white void.

"So-what is the point of this exactly?" Leo asked. He was still his good old four legged self.  
"This is where we create your virtual cockpit." a familiar voice said. Leo whirled around to see the Raichu standing behind him, arms crossed and a grin on his face.

"I can instruct you on this part, but this is something you have to do yourself." The raichu said. "How should I put this... Well, you should survive. No matter what else happens, your first priority is to survive. You heard it from me first. Anyway, to begin, imagine the cockpit of Model Z."  
"But the model doesn't have a cockpit! ...does it?" Leo said.  
"Not right now it doesn't. You see, the model is controlled mentally. However, the model has certain abilities that you don't have a direct parallel for. In your case, the model can walk on two legs. You are a quadruped, and your brain has problems trying to control the model because it hasn't adapted yet to walking bipedally. So, the pilot can create a virtual cockpit to put less strain on their mental functions. Essentially, you have unlimited space in order to assign any action you want to any control structure imaginable. For instance, if you wanted to fly with the model, you could assign the fly function to a button, which you then mentally push, or a lever, which you mentally pull. It's more complicated than it sounds." the Raichu said.

Leo sweatdropped. "So how do I start creating this... mental cockpit?" he said. The Raichu adopted a thoughtful demeanor.  
"First... Try imagining a chair." A small metal folding chair appeared. "Are you kidding me? You intend to fight while sitting in that thing?" Leo's instructor said with some annoyance.  
"Well..." Leo said. "I've never had a chair of my own before..."  
"You have virtually unlimited space to work with!" the raichu said. "We're inside your mind right now-just try to imagine a better chair." The folding chair was replaced by a truly colossal leather office chair which Leo sat on, hunched on his hind legs.  
"Comfortable?" the raichu asked.  
"Yeah." Leo replied. "Is all this really necessary?"  
"The question is not why, but rather why not? This is all mental anyway." the raichu replied. "So, now just generate some buttons for the different functions and we should be done."

"Wait." Leo said. "One last thing-what was your name again?" Silence. And then blackness surrounded the cockpit's seat.  
"Wait!" Leo yelled. "Why are you so passive-aggressive!" There was no response as the void disappeared, showing him the inside of the model's storage tank. He tilted his head down and stared at the model's gigantic feet.  
A loud noise erupted around him as several pumping machines began to drain the fluid out of the tank and several hoses detached themselves from the model's back. Leo felt the sucking sensation faintly against the model's from the feedback-it was more of a suggestion than a proper sensation. With no small amount of apprehension, he reached out his forelegs and spread his paws out in front of him. The model mimicked the movements with it's colossal hands.  
The tank drained completely in a matter of seconds as the umbilical hoses slid back into their sockets in the walls, and the glass front slid downward into the floor. A window showing Cole's face appeared on the left side of Leo's field of vision, and his familiar voice echoed throughout the cockpit.  
"Leo? Are you feeling alright?" Cole said.  
"Yeah." Leo replied. "Doing just fine- all the controls are working."  
"You sure?" Cole asked. "Because you passed out after you, you know, nearly drowned. The guys in medical were flipping out. I-I'm sorry if we're taking this too fast..."  
_I don't know, honestly. Am I okay? That Raichu..._ Leo decided not to voice his concerns. "Didn't you say we were in a hurry?" Leo asked.  
"Yeah, I just... Never mind. This way."Cole said.

Model R turned toward the third blast door along the wall and it slid open. With the push of a button, Leo followed him in Model Z. He tried to glance at the huge windows to see the control crew, but they were reflective and served as giant mirrors.  
_Funny... _he thought. _This thing looks terrifying. _With its sheer black armor, uncanny shape, and glowing red eyes, Model Z was the stuff that nightmares are made from. Leo thanked Palkia that he was piloting the thing instead of being menaced by it. He turned and walked through the blast door and approached a giant hole in the floor.  
"Jump down." Cole stated. "I'll catch you." Just a few hours before, Leo would have balked, tried to talk his way out of the situation, would have demanded a reason before obeying. But he was now controlling a building-sized incarnation of power.  
He jumped and readied his paw upon the hover button.

As he fell, he felt the suggestion of wind across his face as the walls of the shaft rushed by, his descent slowed by what looked like some sort of orange lines rapidly extending from the model's hands to the walls and vanishing when they stretched too long. The tile gave way to unsmoothed concrete, and then to poorly mortared brick.  
And suddenly, the tunnel was gone and he was falling into an open expanse at least twenty times the lofty hight of his model. There was a shock, and Leo winced as deceleration caught up to him and he stopped. Looking up, he saw the smiling face of Model R behind an orange wall of light divided by seemingly random black lines. Cole had caught him. This made Leo feel somewhat relieved. And then he realized that the model was standing on top of the river of reclaimed water, which had frozen from exposure to the orange light.  
"You alright?" was Cole's first words to his new comrade. Leo wasn't sure how to respond. He pulled himself up and out of Model R's arms, and plunged into the underground river. The model's head barely breached the surface, and the cold made him choke back a scream. Cole reached out, grabbing one of Leo's arms and lifted him back up above the water.  
"The barrier is thought controlled. It's just something you have to get used to."Cole said.  
"Hold on," Leo said. "Let me try…" Sitting back in the virtual seat, Leo motioned with both paws, raising two red buttons up from the butterfly controls. He held them both down and extended the model's arms. The water in front of them hissed as orange lines appeared on its surface, interconnecting to form loose, crooked triangles made from the curved lines. An orange glow appeared between the lines, making the barrier look like a force field as the water froze beneath it. Leo thought he could hear the quiet noise of some sort of stringed instrument emanating from the barrier as he tenderly let his feet down upon it. The barrier held, and Leo stood atop the water's surface.  
"Whoa. So this is the power of the model…" Leo moved the hand upwards, spreading the barrier across the entire river and down along it until he could see it no more.  
"Not too shabby, newcomer!" Cole said with some excitement. "Let's get a move on," he said, his voice taking a sudden and dramatic turn for the serious. "We need to get going up to the surface and show those armed clowns who's got the bigger robots!" As if to dramatically punctuate these stirring words, a loud explosion could be heard on the surface, shaking the tunnel and disturbing the flow of untreated sewage. Leo looked up in fear, and his barrier fell, nearly plunging him into the fast-flowing foul-smelling muck. Cole had cleverly anticipated this though, and made a diving save forward to catch Model Z on his own extended barrier. Leo clenched his chest, heaving. He had let his fear get the better of him again. Even if the tunnel's incredibly solidly constructed ceiling had collapsed, he and Cole could have easily stopped it with their robots and barriers. Sure, they would have been slowed down somewhat, but they wouldn't have been seriously hurt.

_Why? Why can't I seem to be able to just relax and go with the flow? All I have to do is follow orders- This robot is strong enough to protect me-and anyone else, if I can just hold this barrier up properly! _He concentrated, reforming the barrier atop the water's surface.  
Cole grimaced. "What was that, Leo? You heard that explosion and you just froze up." Both models began to walk down the long tunnel atop the glowing barriers, and then broke into a flat out run. Cole ran, arms pumping, in perfect sprinting form. Leo looked closely, seeing Cole's barrier reshape itself around the front of his mech, forming a perfect bow wave of orange tendrils that spun off Model R's curled ears and tail. The glowing orange spirals of energy left a fine mist from the river behind them, actually pulling the raw sewage up into the air.

Leo thought competitively to himself as he ran on all fours, traces of random static sparking forth from as hands and feet pounded into the barrier-reinforced water surface.  
_So the models and their barriers can control gravity even… The laws of physics don't even seem to apply to these things. I don't see any batteries or external power sources-this barrier must use up a lot of power just to engage. _"Leo, don't doze off. We've got to keep focused! Did you have your model on autopilot or something?"  
"Sorry, Cole. I've just got a lot on my mind lately." Leo said. _I can't take it anymore… I need to open up to him, apologize, and never run away again! I'm piloting 300 metric tons of pure electricity, and I'm scared of a little explosion? I can probably just punch a missile and make it explode with this thing… _"Cole, I'm sorry." Leo said. "I've been a load for you to carry around. I don't know what will happen next, but I won't run away, Cole. I'm going to need-"

Cole punched Leo in the shoulder, causing Model Z to flip end over end in a comically exaggerated manner before it caught itself with it's barrier.  
"Yeah, Leo, I know." Cole said. "I'm happy to give you my help. We're all in this together, you know? When you feel like running away remember that the safest place in one of these catastrophes is piloting one of these here models." Leo nodded and continued running.

A light appeared at the end of the tunnel, from a large opening that spilled out into the drainage/sewage canal near the city's seedy west side. Leo stepped up his pace as he accelerated into the light, only to come to an abrupt halt behind Cole's outstretched arm.  
"What's the matter? Is-" Leo was cut off by an entire squadron of unmanned drones flew past, pursued by a storm of missiles. Leo gasped as he saw that the tension caused by the disaster had escalated into a full scale war.  
"Get your barrier ready, Leo!" Cole yelled over the comlink as he placed a strange triangle shaped pair of red sunglasses over his eyes. "WE ARE ENGAGING THE ENEMY!"  
And both models leaped into the air.


	4. Chapter 4

As Leo looked upward towards the other planet, he saw the red and yellow cherry blossoms of explosions, confirming that they were getting hit too.  
_I'm guessing this war is between us and them… Did they come here and cause this disaster just to attack us? Do they think that we are doing the same thing to them? _Both models sprinted up the slope toward the burning city as the cubes coalesced into one gigantic form that dwarfed even the tallest buildings. Cole stopped and looked up in surprise as the cube formed itself into an enlongated triangle with it's pointy end pointed at our intrepid heroes.  
"Leo! Barriers up now!" Cole yelled Leo obliged, just as the mobile fortress launched it's motion wave gun.

The sensation of the beam impacting upon the fused shield was indescribable, as the mental feedback produced the sensation of Leo's brain beginning to overheat. He screamed, pounding his fists upon the capsule, begging to be let out. Cole, eyes watering and head burning, checked and found Leo's barrier held steady despite the anguish of it's pilot.  
"Cole?" Leo said. Cole was shocked by how quiet the link's mental words were, despite the screaming still continuing from the other room.  
"Take that sucker down for me. I can handle things down here. Try to do something about the missiles while you are up there! Good luck mate!" Cole nodded and threw himself into a sideways roll out of the line of fire and behind a building. With his barrier surrounding Model R's hands, he lunged at the skyscraper and began to climb it. His barrier-coated hands and feet worked like those of a gecko, as he scampered up the building.

Leo grimaced as he felt blood well up in his face. He could hear his fur begin to singe from the extreme heat. He was literally being boiled alive. Suddenly, a voice rang out over the outside link. Leo opened his actual eyes and saw the Raichu standing over his capsule.  
"I can help you…" Leo heard him say, just as his image began to flicker. "Let me take control of the barrier…" Leo initially objected-this barrier was his sacred duty! "If I hold the barrier, you can attack...We can destroy this thing easily with our thunder." Leo breathed a sigh of relief as the beam stopped firing, only to gasp in horror as the cube reshaped itself into a double ended spindle. One point still focused on him, and one beginning to charge for an attack on Cole.  
"Cole's climbing the building-he won't see the attack coming!" Leo yelled. "Will he die?"  
"It is possible, and rather likely." the Raichu said.  
"Well, alright then." Leo said. "Take control of this barrier!" Leo felt a warm sensation blow through him, lifting the pain from his face and paws. In the back of his mind, he heard a sound that might have been laughter. The barrier flickered, and then began to glow a steady yellow extending from just one hand. As Leo watched in amazement, the barrier began to form from intersecting squares, more powerful than his own loose triangles. Leo clenched his other fist, still getting used to the sensation of fingers, and unleashed his spark. The capsule recorded the signature, transmitting thousands of packets of data to Model Z, who unleashed such a torrent of lightning that even the sun was temporarily eclipsed. The cube fractured back into it's component units, creating a glorious display of glowing blue outlines which promptly exploded.

Cole reached the top of the building, readying his ember inside his chest as his shades gleamed, only to see the massive explosion result from Leo's first attack.  
"Leo! What was that!" Cole shouted. Leo grimaced, and tentatively formed a small barrier. It was his to control again.  
_Thanks, Raichu. You saved our lives… How did you do that? Do you have a portable neural connection to Model Z or something?_ There was no response. Leo smiled. _I guess you're a bit shy… It's alright. We'll talk more about this once the city's saved! _He felt a sense of approval. _So you do have some sort of connective link to this model…  
_"LEO!" Cole yelled, one arm preoccupied with lifting a large I-beam of the building's fire exit that he was standing upon. "You just zoned out there again. Are you sure you are alright, man?"

Leo straightened up, and gazed up at the planet up above their gigantic heads. An idea popped into his head, and he had a hunch that the Raichu was somehow turned to Cole and said with a smirk,  
"Cole? Can you climb that?", as he pointed at the tallest building in the city . Cole stared back at him in disbelief.  
"'Can you climb that,' he says. I just climbed this building, didn't I! I PILOT MODEL R! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!" Cole shouted at the top of his lungs. Leo remained unfazed as his brain worked for a second. His response was entirely his.  
"I still don't know who you are, really. We've only known each other for a few hours, if that even really counts. But, I do know one thing about you." Leo said.  
"Oh? What is that, please enlighten me, noble one." Cole replied with more than a hint of sarcasm.  
"I know that you're strong. And devoted to your orders and your ideals. You protect and believe in your friends. And I would appreciate it if you would believe in me. I have a plan."

Cole looked somewhat relieved that Leo wasn't angry with him. He tried to work well with this newcomer, but like most fire types he had a notoriously quick temper and plenty of hot blood, which are two things not suited to teamwork or collaboration. But he tried. Oh, how he tried.  
"What is it, Leo." Cole said. "We're out of time here." As if to punctuate his reply, another explosion shook the ground as missiles impacted the bridges leading out of the city, cutting off the main evacuation routes. Leo tried to be as brief as possible.  
"Well, if you can climb up that building, shouldn't you be able to jump down to the other city and attack their launch fields directly? I think I can keep them occupied down here, as long as we do this quick." he said.

Cole turned to Leo and grinned.  
"Leo, that's genius! With that strategy, we'll be able to attack the enemy directly from above while minimizing casualties and destruction down here." he said. Leo smiled in return, grateful to be of use to his more experienced comrade. Cole activated the capsule's scanners, connecting to the security camera network, which was holding up surprisingly well considering the city was bursting into flames. A quick scan and he realized the source of missiles that were impacting the surface- a seemingly endless swarm of fighter jets that were literally taking off from the inside of the upside-down city, pulling nearly straight upward into a stall, and then letting the gravity of the other planet catch them, launching their missiles, and pulling up for another dive.

"Cole! Heads up!" Leo yelled, as the next barrage of glowing fire threw itself against their raised barriers. This time around, Leo found that holding the barrier up didn't take all of his concentration, and he didn't have to use both hands either.  
_Did the Raichu give me some kind of gift or something? My barrier has the squares like his- but it's still orange! And I thought the other planet appearing in the sky was strange...  
_ "Bad news." Cole intoned. "They just took out the bridge and half the evacuation effort."  
"Is there any other way for the mons in the shelters to escape?" Leo yelled as he awkwardly dodged a stream of bullets. Cole sighed and let loose another gout of flame from his hands.  
"There are underground tunnels, but that requires the authorization of someone higher up at SEAL. I would open them, but I don't have the security clearance for that." Cole said. Leo scrunched up his forehead in frustration as he blasted a plane out of the sky from behind Cole's back.  
"So SEAL trusts you with their giant flame throwing robot that can defy the laws of physics, but you can't just open some doors to save people's lives?"

Cole blinked. He had never thought about his frankly bizarre security clearance before. Fortunately, before he had to answer Leo, a triumphant voice rang through the radio system.  
"Not to worry, ace pilots of SEAL! The doors have been opened and evacuation efforts are proceeding with all possible speed. Man, I wish I had your job." Both Leo and Cole's jaws dropped.  
"GUY?" both the pilots cried in unison.  
"Yep, as it turns out, I've got level ten clearance according to the big boss! He told me to look after you and see that you don't get into too much trouble." Guy said. Cole palmed his face.  
"Why didn't you say anything until now?" Cole said. "Maybe we could have used your help a few minutes ago when fighting the world's largest Rubik's Cube!" Guy, despite only having one eye, managed a smug expression. "I figured to make my dramatic entrance into the main story with some good news for a change." Guy said. "It really seems like you need some too." Leo became puzzled for a second.  
"What do you mean, talking about the main story. This is real! This is really happening to me and you and to Cole over here!" said Leo.  
"Yeah, maybe I should have said that differently." said Guy. "What I meant was that you probably didn't expect me to show up again, so I decided to make a spectacular entrance. I'm not just some one scene wonder! Maybe I'll even make Ensemble Darkhorse!"  
"Was that supposed to make any more sense?" Cole asked.  
Guy sighed. "Fine, fine. It's not my fault that you two don't get the jokes. Whatever! Right now, we've got more pressing issues! Move out!"

Leo ran down the open city street, turning Model Z's head to see Cole scrambling up the building to attack the enemy base directly. Guy's words from the impromptu mission briefing still rang clearly in his mind.  
"_First off, you need to find a long-range weapon to support Cole while he's climbing. Without any covering fire, he'll be a sitting duck for their airplanes and any other defenses they have. There's a weapons cache a few blocks south of here, with a positron cannon."  
"Layman's terms, please? If I'm going to be using it, I need to know what it does." Leo said.  
"Right. Essentially, a giant sniper rifle that shoots lightning." Guy responded.  
"Why does Leo get all the cool toys?" Cole complained.  
"Because right now, the power is out all over the city." Guy responded. "One of the first things the enemy targeted was our power grids. Leo, you should still be able to fire the cannon without it's external power source- Model Z should have more than enough juice to spare! Just use the computer to assist your aim, and take out anything that poses a threat to Cole. Do you understand? Good. Move out. I'll keep you posted." _

A simple plan, and one Leo believed he could carry out easily. Well, maybe not easily, but it was something useful. For the first time in his short life, Leo felt useful to someone else as a participant in something greater than himself. It was a good feeling, and he could understand why someone would willingly fight for it. Guy's voice came over the radio again.  
"Leo, the stockpile building is just around the corner toward your right. I've just unlocked the front of the building- the cannon should be lying inside." Leo grimaced as he blocked several more missiles with his barrier. It both interested and bothered him how casual he was about stopping an explosive that would have certainly killed him outside of the model with a glowing shield of light. He hoped that SEAL had a psychologist somewhere under their employ.  
"Great. Now how do I use the sniper rifle?" Leo said. "I've never fired a gun before or anything- hell, I don't even have any training with the model at all!"  
"Just charge up the Model's hands with electricity when holding the gun." Guy said. "Then, when the little red light inside the scope turns green, push the button and fire! The aiming computer should be already calibrated, meaning you can lock on to targets and have a guaranteed shot at them if you can put the crosshairs over them in the first place. Just stay calm, and trust your instincts. I don't really know you that well, but there's only so much each one of us can do. I trust you to do your job, and I hope that you will trust me to do mine."

Leo looked down at the model's still running legs.  
_Wait- Legs? I'm on my hind legs? Why didn't I even notice this happening? At least this way I have got my arms free for shooting and barrier purposes. Heh.  
_"Gotcha, Guy. Thanks for the help!" Leo shouted as he dove forward toward the supply building. Model Z smashed through the half-open blast door as if it was made from tin foil, and pulled the sniper rifle free from it's wall mounts with a strength that could have easily torn a in half. Leo whirled around, rolled forward, and took aim at the sky. The scope worked beautifully, easily magnifying his view of the planes diving towards Cole. Leo breathed in and out, trying to ready his spark and push it into his paws-corresponding to Model Z's hands, which were now gripping the gun tightly.

A voice in the back of his head whispered, 'Charge…' and the model's hands began to crackle with unleashed power. Inside the capsule, Leo could faintly feel the power running over his body, even as he focused on the model outside of the base. Two long steps and a crouching leap, and he was on top of a nearby office building. He crouched down to balance the gun on a chimney and took aim with one hand, the other hand projecting a passive barrier to shield against explosions. Guy responded once again. He sounded pleased with Leo.  
"You got the sniper rifle and managed to charge it! Great job- just line it up and fire at those planes circling around on the right side of the building where Cole is. Keep in mind that if the beam can destroy something, it will usually penetrate that object, so try to kill two birds with one stone, if you catch my drift!" the Yamask said.

Leo concentrated, staring deep into the rifle's scope, staring deep into the depths of the model's control software. It was surprising- for a second, it felt like he was lying there, holding a rifle, while another directed his movements. And then the moment passed. With a gasp, Leo checked the meter on the right side of the scope. It was green. The crosshairs danced over one of the planes, surrounding it with a red square and the words, LOCK ON.  
_I could just fire now, but Guy said something about killing two birds with one stone… _He scanned the surface with the scope as the crosshairs followed the plane, noticing a large dish mounted atop a building that was surrounded with another square marking it as TARGET. Leo punched Guy's comlink and shouted, "Guy! Look at this!"  
"Leo, that is the external apparatus of one of their weapons."Guy said. "Destroy it and the planes at the same time!" Leo nodded and concentrated once more, wondering what would happen this time. To his surprise, time seemed to slow. Each plane seemed to hang in the air, allowing him to move the crosshairs over all of them, locking them all on. A laugh rang in the back of his mind. Then, as the first plane passed in front of the tower, he pulled the trigger.

Cole's barrier was growing weaker, and he had to rely more and more on Model R's fingers. He had been climbing for nearly five minutes, and he was already getting tired. The building was very high, but he was getting close to the top and the hold of gravity on his body was beginning to lessen. With a thought, he revived his barrier and projected it passively out to his sides. If anyone shot at him, he could just let go and use his barrier to support him while he blocked the shots. He was worried about the range of his attacks though- trying to hit a fighter jet with one of Model R's flame bursts would be like trying to down a Pidgey with a squirt gun. And then they could just circle back around, and then

He mentally slapped himself. That sort of negativity was why he had gotten into these messes in the first place. If the planes hit him, they hit him. If he fell, he fell. If he ran away

He closed his eyes. _Where are all these thoughts coming from? I- _

He heard the sounds of incoming jet engines, and the wooshing noise of launching rockets. The enemy anti-aircraft defenses were coming to bear on him after he had climbed within easy targeting range. He pushed himself off the wall, extending his barrier to it's fullest extent, straining himself to the breaking point.  
_It's funny- my flesh is willing but my mind is weak. Heh…_

And then the beam from Leo's gun fired, piercing through the attacking planes and slamming into the city surface far above with a massive explosion of lightning. Cole was so shocked that his barrier nearly failed him, but he managed to catch a pylon on the side of the building and hold on with his own strength. His comlink crackled to life. It was Leo, whose voice Cole had never been so glad to hear.  
"Cole? I got the sniper rifle! I can cover you, so don't worry! I can see you through the scope- you're almost there! Keep going man-I believe in you. I know we can do this!" Cole grinned, an expression that was faithfully mirrored on Model R's giant face. He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, and resumed climbing one hand over the other. With a mental command, he keyed up the comlink and selected Leo's name. "  
Hey Leo," he said with no small amount of warmth in his voice. "Nice shooting there, mate. If you keep it up, you might be half as good as I am!"  
Leo smirked. "I'd like to see you make that shot- I just saved your tiny tailflame right there!"  
"Nice try, but I know about the computer lock on. Still a good job though. You know, considering one of us is climbing a mile-high building and the other is trying to snipe fighter jets off of him, we should probably stop talking."  
"Roger that." Leo hit the red button, disconnecting him from Cole's comlink. For the first time in his life, he felt appreciated. He felt as though he had a friend who he depended on and who depended on him. It felt good. Really good, as though the previous miserable years were just time sacrificed for this glorious moment.

The first sign that something was wrong was the fighter jets veering off to either side, and the anti aircraft guns ceasing their fire. Leo absentmindedly lined up another shot and fired, hitting a cluster of planes smack in the center. He keyed the comlink to brag to Cole about that shot, just in time for to hear the explosion. Leo jerked the scope back to the tower just in time to see the massive hole in the side of the tower, Model R falling, and a duplicate of Model Z with the same glowing red eyes shocking Cole's model with lightning as they both fell.


	5. Chapter 5

Leo was paralyzed from both a deep and unsettling fear at seeing a duplicate of his faithful mecha, a burning, crazed anger at seeing his only friend be beat down, and a simple struggling of comprehension to understand what was happening and why. The voice in the back of his head was no longer a child's laugh, but a scream of despair. And as Leo slumped to Model Z's knees, he knew that the tower had been a trap all along.

_They left their defenses on standby, waited for us to pull out our models first, and now they've...they've… Cole… _The comlink dinged, this time labeled -Sound Only-.  
"Leo. This is not the time to be crying. If you are going to be in my employ, you need to be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish our goals." the link said. Leo looked up, tears staining the capsule's cushions.  
"Who are you?" Leo said.

The response lacked emotion. "I am your leader. Everyone in SEAL answers to me, and me only. If you want to save Cole's life, you have to do what I tell you. I can sever his mental connection to Model R from the base, but we can't afford to lose the model to the enemy. I know that you are upset. Furious, even. But don't take it out on me. I'll give you answers once you've activated the model return system underneath the city hall, and teleported the model back to the Geofront. We can repair it, but we can't afford to replace you, Leo. Be careful."  
The call ended. Leo rose shakily to his feet.  
_Why me? He said that they can't afford to replace me- why would he say that. I'm just an alley cat! I just don't get it at all… _

Leo found himself running down the street in the opposite direction that he had just ran earlier. He was still holding the positron sniper cannon partly because he thought he might be able to help Cole with it somehow, and partly because he couldn't seem to make himself let it go. It appeared to be glued to his hands, meaning that even if he wanted to drop it he couldn't. He didn't want to drop it though. He didn't know pain, or fear, or what he wanted. Leo knew and felt nothing. A map appeared in the comlink, showing his current position and the location of his destination- the transport depot. All he had to do was head to the building several blocks away, and start the emergency generator using Model Z's electricity powers. All he had to do was survive. All he had was… all he had… all…

For the first time he noticed how he was still running on his hind legs, like Cole- like Cole used to. It seemed to take conscious effort to remember this fact, and it bothered him that he was acting so unlike himself.

_Well, it does make sense for me to act unusually… my best- my only friend could be dead right now, for all I know. Wait- the boss said that they had disconnected Cole from the model. I think that's what he said. God, I can't seem to remember. Let's just assume for now that they did disconnect him. So that means that he's still alive. For now. If I can't recover Model R, then we're sort of screwed. I can't fight two models at once, assuming the other planet has two as well. We need to keep the playing field even, and this should be the best way to do it. How am I so level headed about all this? Don't I care about Cole? He's probably in horrible pain- He fell nearly a mile while being punched in the face. Limited feedback or no limited feedback, that's got to have hurt. I'm guessing I'm in denial right now. That's why I'm still on my feet and thinking logically. I'd better get moving before I break down. _

As Leo turned around the next corner, eyes trained unblinking on his comlink map, he noticed two things of particular interest. The first was that the building where the teleporter was located was right next to the restaurant that Cole had used to enter the geofront only a few hours ago. This was mildly intriguing. The second was that Model R was standing in front of him, blocking the street and the path to the generator building.

Leo planted Model Z's heels into the pavement, ripping the underlying rock foundation to shreds as he stopped himself about an arm's length away from the cruel mirror of his friend. He grit his teeth and moaned. The objective was right there, and there seemed to be no way to get to it except through the other model, whose pilot was probably far more experienced in model to model combat.

Leo took stock of his options and resources. He still had the gun, but that took a really long time to charge and would be difficult to aim at close range. Now Leo was regretting not charging the gun while he was enroute to the depot. He should have expected that this simple, easy job wouldn't be so easy, after all the previous complications that had been hazardous to life and limb ever since the other planet showed up earlier that morning. He should have approached the building cautiously from the back so he had the element of suprise. Maybe Leo could have even won the fight with a well placed positron sniper cannon shot if he had charged and managed to sneak up on the enemy model. But there was no time for what ifs or could haves.

Leo readied a barrier for flame attacks with his right hand, and began charging his left which still clutched the positron sniper cannon. It was a bit late for beginning the charge, but at least he was preparing for fire. It was the only offensive weapon he was even vaguely skilled with, besides Model Z's lighting. And if the other planet had a Model Z, the Model R's pilot was probably used to Model Z's abilities and limits.  
_He knows me better than I know myself, and he wants to fight me so I can't get to that building, charge that generator, and bring our Model R back to the geofront. I have to get by him or defeat him. There's no other way this can be settled. Either he loses or I do. But how am I supposed to beat a trained pilot in a head on fight? I wish Cole was here. He was trained in tactics-he'd know what to do. _

Suddenly, an idea struck Leo. He hit the comlink for Guy, while being careful not to take his eyes off his flame-using opponent. The comlink bleeped twice and connected to Guy's curved monitor far below the base. Leo concentrated for a second, hitting the sound only button with a mental command. He didn't want to be distracted from the standoff he had entered for even a second. Briefly, he considered the fact that the enemy might be able to intercept his transmission and realize that he had no idea what he was doing, but Leo shrugged that off as a risk that he just had to take.

Guy's familiar voice appeared over the speakers as Leo scrutinized his opponents blue eyes.  
"Leo. I-I don't know what to say." Guy said. Leo smiled. It was far from a comforting sight, and it was probably a good thing that the call was sound only to avoid unnerving Guy any further.  
"If we don't get that generator going, then Cole's sacrifice is going to be in vain." Leo said. "I don't want that to happen, and I bet that you don't want us to fail either." Guy sighed and punched up Model Z's coordinates He was shocked to see that Model Z was standing still only a block from the generator building's entrance.  
"Leo? What's going on?" Guy said. The only response was a woosh of flames and the distinctive gonging sound of a model barrier deflecting the attack.

Leo yelled, "I'm under attack by the enemy Model R! He was just here waiting for me! What do I do!" Back on the surface, the enemy model saw that the flame attack had no effect and dove forward for a fire punch to try to break the barrier. Model Z rolled out of the way before Leo even thought to make the movement. Leo countered the flame punch with a burst of lightning as he continued his momentum towards the building. A single leap brought Model Z's hands up to the roof of the building just as Model R grabbed onto his leg. Leo concentrated and kicked his opponent square in his face as he pulled himself up, flipped into a forward roll and took off across the rooftops at a full sprint.

Guy's voice returned over the staticy connection. "I can see you are running away. That's probably a good idea."  
Leo grimaced. "Yeah. You don't say. He's much more skilled than I am. Do you have any ideas, Guy?" he said.  
Guy looked over the huge board listing Model Z's log and Leo's status. "First off, keep running. Second, keep charging your beam cannon. Third, keep Model R distracted." he said. Leo was puzzled by the last statement.  
"Distracted? What do you mean, distracted? You want me to lead him away from the building?"  
Guy smiled. "Exactly what I had in mind."  
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Leo sputtered. "Is there anyone else on the surface who can turn on the generator while I am keeping him busy?" Guy placed a monocular goggle over his eye and hoisted a diamond-tipped drill with his tail thingy. "Who said anything about turning on the generator from the surface?"

Leo would have palmed his face, except for the whole running away from the giant robot thing.  
"Guy, what are you planning exactly?" he said as he deflected another burst of flame from the Model R, who had decided not to follow him on the rooftops and was keeping pace on the streets behind him.  
"Just try to act like you have no idea what you are doing so that they can't possibly guess that we've got them outsmarted." Guy said. "You know, panic randomly, stumble clumsily, scream like a little girl, that sort of stuff."  
"Well, I've already done all three of those things today. This ought to be a piece of cake!" Leo said with a sarcastic grin. Guy sighed and hit several buttons, opening up surface shaft 24a. Pulling his headset off of it's hook, he connected the comlink to it remotely and headed out the door.  
"I'm heading up to turn the generator on from underneath, Leo. Call out if you need anything."Guy said.  
"Wait. How are you going to get to the generator to turn it on?" Leo demanded of his controller.  
"Simple." Guy smirked. "I dig through the floor and reattach the powerlines. When I say to, you grab ahold of a shredded powerline and give it all the juice that Model Z can give. I'll hit the switch right here, and boom, you and Model R teleport back down to the geofront."

For only the second time in his life, Leo was struck dumb. He honestly had nothing to say to that. Leo grimaced and forced his model into a jump, barely clearing the gap between buildings as a firebomb exploded behind him. The enemy air force had recovered after his earlier attack on them and now they were using heavy artillery.

With a loud crash, Model Z's foot planted itself directly through the shoddy roof material from the extra force of the jump. As Leo worked desperately to pull it out, the Model R jumped up into the air in front of him, fists charged with glowing fire- and promptly got both of it's feet stuck through the roof, rendering it immobile. Both models stared awkwardly at each other for several seconds before working rapidly to free themselves. Leo ripped his foot out first and looked up right into the glowing light of the enemy model's pyro blasts charging. The fire crashed against Leo's half-formed barrier, sending him flying backwards like Simon Belmont after being hit in the crotch by a fleaman. Because of his proximity to the edge of the roof, he fell down into the street on his back. The impact knocked the wind out of him, causing him to drop the gun. As the enemy model's glowing blue eyes appeared over the roof's edge, Leo wondered why Cole had even bothered saving him on the bus that morning.

Guy smashed up through the floor of the depot, hoisting the drill out of the way first before floating himself up. With a press of a button, he engaged the comlink.  
"Leo? I'm at the depot! Just hold on for another minute or so, and then electrify the cables!" he yelled. The only response was static. Guy frowned and worked even faster, wrapping cables, tying them off, and smashing things with his wrench.  
_Hang on there, Leo. We aren't just going to roll over and die quietly! _

Leo was somehow still conscious. The Model R was desperately trying to break his barrier by using a endless barrage of flame punches as the enemy airforce pulled around for another pass. Blocking the flames with one hand's barrier and the punches with the other was taking all of his concentration. Dimly, Leo remembered that this sort of thing was supposed to be impossible. He blamed that mysterious mental voice, and resolved to ask someone about it if he actually made it back to the geofront. With a tremendous explosion, the air force began to fire on both of the models, who extended their barriers upwards to avoid being scrapped.  
_I guess they don't give a crap about hitting their own men. _Leo thought bitterly. _Jerks. _A electrical pole was snapped cleanly off by gunfire, dropping the cables right next to Leo's hands.  
Guy finished his final adjustments, hit several switches and yelled "NOW!" at the top of his lungs. Leo used the charged lightning he had been storing for the past five minutes on the cable, activating the machine and transporting the two models back to the geofront, out of harm's way.

Leo opened Model Z's eyes to find that they were back in the model hangar in front of the sunken model tank from earlier that day. He turned his head to glance at the doors leading to the cockpit capsules, still amazed that his physical body had not moved an inch in all that time. Next to him, slumped over on the floor, was the limp form of Model R. It was covered in horrible gouges from it's impact with the concrete after it's fall, and it's face was-  
Leo's stomach turned and he looked away to avoid being sick all over the inside of his capsule.

The technicians and workers that Cole had mentioned earlier were out in full force, cleaning up the floor with huge hoses, and moving huge machines on miniature front loaders. One of them, a tall Gallade who seemed to be overseeing operations gestured to Model R and mimed carrying something. Leo got the message, and took two steps over to the other model as the lab coat-wearing researchers and hard-hatted workers scattered like pecha leaves in an autumn wind. Both arms went underneath the battered figure, one under the chest and one under the legs. As Leo straightened back up, one of the arms slumped off the model's chest, revealing the shard of glass piercing straight through the armor. Leo took a step toward the model tanks. And another. and another. and

He opened his eyes to find himself in the model tank as it began to fill with the green-yellow fluid and the pipes and wires began to extend toward him. Turning his head, he saw Model R in the other tank, bubbles coming from it's newly fitted face mask to prevent it from suffocating. Far overhead, one of the tinted one way windows became clear. Leo strained with the model's enhanced eyesight to make out who it was. If he didn't know better, Leo could have sworn there was a look of sadness on the overseer's face. And then everything became white.

The glass lid of the capsule separated, sliding back into it's two component pieces. Leo felt the sweat on his face begin to evaporate, making him feel uncomfortably cold. He shivered involuntarily. His eyes began to open instinctively but squinched shut at the brightness of the cockpit's lights. Without thinking, he tried to lift a hand up to block the light when he realized that he didn't have hands anymore. Or feet. Technically, he never really did have them, and had just borrowing Model Z's hands for the last eight hours. Leo curled up into a ball, trying to get his paws working again, stretching and flexing them with what little strength he could manage. Voices and figures bustled overhead, looming in a way that could have seemed ominous. Leo wanted to know what they were talking about, what they were doing. He wanted answers, but his body wanted sleep. As his limbs and body disappeared into darkness, he felt a sensation of being lifted up out of his cockpit and being carried off to a destination unknown.

The first thing Leo saw when waking up was a large red eye staring directly into his face. His natural reaction was to scream, but Guy clamped his tentacle thing over Leo's mouth before he could get a sound out.  
"Shh…" the Yamask whispered. "I came all this way to check up on you, so don't get us both in trouble."  
"Mmmmh?" Leo responded eloquently. Guy removed his tentacle thing, while still admonishing Leo to keep quiet. Leo pulled himself up onto his stomach, and was able to see that he was still in his room in the Geofront's dormitory. His bedside clock said that it was 3:00 am exactly.  
"Guy, it's three am." Leo said with a hint of exhaustion. "I just got done piloting a robot against an entire army, I nearly died like three times, and I had to carry my friend's horribly mangled model back to the tanks. Can't this wait until morning? I need to sleep, and even though you may be a ghost...thing, I'm guessing you need sleep as well. Come on, Guy, have a heart."

Guy had been rummaging through the knickknacks on top of the dresser, and scooped up a crystal ball with the image of a white flame perfectly preserved inside.  
"Catch." Guy said and hurled the frozen flame at Leo with all the strength he could muster. Without thinking, Leo stopped the ball with a barrier, producing an ear-splitting pinging noise. The ball hit the bedspread unharmed, and Leo's jaw dropped as Guy stared unflinchingly.  
"So it has begun." the yamask said with no small amount of ominousness.  
Leo managed to find his voice. "What in the name of Arceus was that? Did I just form a barrier outside of my model?"  
Guy sighed. "Technically, all of us have barriers. Mons with high enough synchronization with their models can occasionally control their own barriers at will." Leo sat down, mind turning.  
"I'm assuming that SEAL's already done experiments on this already and that's why you know all this." Leo said.  
"Correct." Guy responded. "I really shouldn't be telling you anything else. Just try to keep this quiet, hush hush."  
A look of panic spread across Leo's face. "What, would they cut me up or something?" he asked.

"No." Guy said. "Well, I don't think that they would. Look, you just don't want to be caught using a barrier like that. It would mean they would never let you leave this project. You'd be too valuable to them. Imagine a super soldier capable of flight, teleportation, and able to slice someone's head off with their mind's strength alone. That is the potential of the barrier, and that is why you've been chosen to pilot. We've only got two models, and we aren't getting any more any time soon. But the barrier soldiers, like you? All they require is the right basic training and the right berserker buttons pushed. The council believe that it's what has to be done to ensure our survival against the enemy world." Guy stopped talking abruptly and looked up into Leo's stunned eyes. "I'm really hoping you can prove them wrong, Leo."

Leo had no idea what to say. "I still have friends here, don't I?" he said quietly. "I still have people who I can trust- let's see. I've got you, Guy. I've got Cole, we're good friends." Guy reached over and affectionately patted Leo on the shoulder.  
"I know that it's hard to face down the entire world, but sometimes you just have to sit still and think very carefully about your next move." he said.  
Leo sniffled. "Is-Is Cole alright?"  
Guy smiled warmly. "Yeah, he should be fine. The doctors pumped almost a whole gallon of painkillers into him and he's sleeping like a hatchling in his room across the hall."  
"Great. He gets to sleep. That is so unfair." Leo groused.  
"Well, he did get absolutely wrecked." said Guy. "You saw the whole thing, Leo. Let's try and understand what happened. How did they outsmart us?" Leo grimaced, reliving the scene in his mind. "The other Model Z was waiting for Cole at the top of the tower. So either they knew that we'd try climbing it, or.."  
"Or? Where are you going with this, Leo?" Guy questioned.  
"Or they've got a model teleporter like we do!" Leo exclaimed. "It makes so much sense- just put the model right in the middle of an empty floor and wait for the enemy to come to them! That's why the other Model R was already waiting for me at the teleporter generator- they warped it down and were trying the same trick twice! Wait-can they teleport their models into the geofront? If they do, we've pretty much had it."  
Guy went silent, puzzling over this. "No, no they can't." He declared. "We've got the models emitting a passive barrier to prevent that sort of thing. If they haven't been able to crack our model's comlinks, then they can't crack that barrier. It's made with the same encryption coding. If they want us out of this hole, they'll have to dig us out with their bare hands."

Leo sighed. "I guess that means we can't just teleport into their geofront either. Assuming they have one. Guy, I need your help. You're the only friend I've got left."  
Guy sweatdropped. "What about Cole? Isn't he still your friend?"  
"Cole's still unconscious after having his face driven into the concrete from a half mile up." Leo said. "You're the only one still on his feet. Even if you don't actually have feet."  
"Alright." Guy sighed. "What kind of help do you need?"  
"I need advice." Leo said. "I need to know our enemy, and I need to have a preemptive on them. They obviously have a very good tactician on their side, because they were able to counter most of our actions yesterday. The only things that were able to accomplish anything were planned out by you and me. The point is that we've got some sort of monopoly on awesomeness by analysis over here, and we have to exploit it if we want to survive and stop this super soldier project. So the first thing you can help me with is telling me how you improvise so well. It's like you understand how everyone seems to think and how they're going to act."

"It's all from the animes." Guy said bluntly.  
"What?" Leo said. "What are you even talking about?"  
"It's exactly like I said." Guy responded. "Everything I know I learned from the animes. You've heard of the legend of the Yamask? That we used to be humans? Let me tell you something. This is gonna have spoilers, but that's sort of a given at this point. The legend is real. At least for me, it is. The legend says the former human loses their memories. Well, that's not exactly true. I remembered those animes from before. They've been helping me remember some other things, but I never dreamed that I would be able to put my former joy to a new use. So that's where Guy came from. It's not even my real name- it's from the animes too. I'm still watching and hoping that I find out what my old name was."

Leo was surprised once again, but pleasantly this time. "So, can your great and vast storage of anime knowledge help us here?" Guy looked up from the wall he had been studying. A mildly unsettling grin crossed his face.  
"Yes. Yes, I believe it can. This whole thing IS JUST LIKE ONE OF MY JAPANESE ANIMES!" Guy lunged toward the air vent, prying the cover off that he had already loosened. Leo hopped down from the bed, wincing as his paws met the floor. He was still a little unsteady after piloting the model. Guy floated into the air vent and disappeared from sight. Leo sighed as he pried himself up over the lip of the opening.  
_This had better be worth me losing so much sleep over._


	6. Chapter 6

The sounds of clapping and heartfelt congratulations faded as the screen faded to black. Guy hit the power button on the televison and turned to Leo, who seemed to be trying shock his brain back to normal functioning.  
"What the hell did I just watch?" he asked pathetically.  
"Evangelion. One of the most influential deconstructions in the history of anime." Guy said.  
"Please-please no more big words. The show had way too many of those." Leo said.  
"Alright. Layman's terms then." Guy said. "I have to consciously remind myself most other mons don't speak otaku. Many animes have giant robots in them because otakus love giant robots because chicks dig giant robots. You dig?"

"Er, not really." Leo said. "Wait, are you trying to say that otakus are mostly men without meaningful relationships?"

"Maybe...and that's not the real point." Guy said. "The point is most otakus are men, and most men like giant things and robots. The obvious solution? A giant robot! Many shows during the early periods of anime focused on these giant robots, their hot-blooded screaming warrior pilots, and lots of awesome fights and explosions. One of the first series to really be introspective about this whole giant robot premise was Mobile Suit Gundam. I could go on and on for hours about that show, but I'll just say that it was a much more depressing look at the standard super robot premise. It still had a lot of the basic elements of the genre like big robots and cool explosions, but it was much more dramatic and focused more on the characters than previous efforts. The main character is a guy new to this whole war thing, and the ever-memorable villain Char is more of a rival than an evil overlord and is also an understandable and likable character. The robots aren't specially designed by mad scientists to combat lizard people- they're mass produced in factories specifically for the war effort. If the previous shows were super robot shows, then Gundam was a real robot show. The name came from the fact that the robots were much similar to what could be technically possible at the time, using guns instead of telescoping rocket punches. Anyway, Evangelion could be seen as a successor to the trend that Gundam started of character focus, more depressing content, and a bigger focus on the militaries of the future. Evangelion also added in elements of psychological horror, in depth examinations of common anime character traits, and lots of mind screw as you just saw."

"Don't remind me. I still feel a bit sick trying to figure out how everyone died off camera." Leo said.  
"They didn't die." Guy said. "The movie shows the ending better, but I really don't want to show you the movie though. You seem a bit young for that."  
"Seriously, Guy?" Leo said. "I'm fourteen. It's not like I'm a baby or something just because I'm new."  
"You definitely aren't seeing the movie then." Guy said. "And before you argue, I recommend you talk to Cole about this once he's woken up. He watched it one night when I was working late. According to the psychologists, he's still having nightmares. Trust me, you don't need any more mental trauma at the moment."

Leo sighed and slumped backwards into the comfortable beanbag in Guy's rather spacious and well lit janitor's closet. In addition to the usual cleaning supplies, it also contained a comfortable looking bed, a minifridge, and another beanbag which Guy reclined in with his remote and a can with the label covered with a strip of silver duct tape.  
"So where does all of this get us?" Leo asked.  
"Pardon? I don't understand your question, Leo."Guy said.  
"What I mean is how does any of this stuff about Evangelion help us in the slightest?" Leo said. "It's been interesting taking a trip down the history of giant robots and anime and stuff, but how does this help any of us?"  
Guy pinched what would have been the bridge of his nose if he had a nose. "Our situation down here in SEAL's geofront is extremely similar to Evangelion." he said. "You can't tell me that SEELE and SEAL aren't meant to be similar. We've got giant robots that may or may not be robots that are controlled by young pilots through mental links involving synchronization. Our situation is very similar to that of NERV. If we fail to learn from their mistakes, we will be doomed to repeat them for real this time. I don't know about you, but I have no plans to be hugged and turn into Tang anytime soon. Basically, we just need to stop whining, sobbing, and folding our hands in front of our faces and try to think clearly."

"Have you heard me whine about any of this?" Leo said. "That's right. You haven't. I may be new to all this, but I'm far from a wimp! I've had to survive on the streets for most of my life, and I know some things about life, the universe, and everything."  
"I'm not insulting you or your past history." Guy said. "I'm just trying to tell you that there are things that you don't really know much about. And you are going to need my help if you want any of us to survive. Not trying to be rude, just trying to speak the truth."

"So what do we do now?" Leo said.  
"First, we go back to sleep. From the looks of you, it seems like you could really use some." Guy said.  
"Thanks, Guy." Leo responded. That almost makes up for you waking me up at three in the morning."  
"And then, we need to stay quiet, plan in secret, and keep our eyes open for any new developments or projects." Guy said. "We also have to watch for people who might be willing to join us if there's some kind of incident, or people who simply want to 'stick it to the man,' to use an old expression from where I'm from. We also need to contact those people who work or live here who are undoubtedly good at their job. For instance, you are very good at piloting the model and catching bullets with your mind's power. I am very good at janitorial work, and already have a good idea of who to talk to to get a good start on our plans. The first important part of any conspiracy is information. I've got some information for you right now. The city has been evacuated via the network of tunnels to the Geofront with little casualties. You don't have to worry about the city being wrecked anymore. All you have to do is protect the Geofront and hope the insurance people actually pay up for this mess."

"Thanks, Guy. This really means a lot to me. I just hope I don't let you down." Leo said. "Wait a second. How am I supposed to find my way back to my room? Those air vents are a like some sort of stupid maze. I don't suppose you have a map or something?"  
"Nope. I've got something better. Earlier around midnight, I set off trying to get into your room via the air shafts." Guy said.  
"Could that sentence be any more disturbing?" Leo said.  
"Possibly." Guy said. "I left markers along the right path on the walls to mark the right way to travel through."  
"But how did you find the right way?" Leo said.  
"Trial and error." Cole said. "Took me three hours to finally find my way to your room. Also, we now have one of those napalm gun things. Don't ask how."

"Okay then." Leo said. "I guess I'd better be getting back to bed. All this humor is finally beginning to get to me."  
"See you. Just take your time. Here." Guy handed Leo a portable radio.  
"Mmph?" said Leo with the radio clamped firmly between his teeth.  
Guy palmed himself in the face. "Yeah, I guess I forgot you don't have fingers. Oops."

Leo concentrated, forming his barrier again. He let the radio out of his mouth onto the barrier's surface, and poked the radio's on switch with his nose. "See? I got this." is what he tried to say, but the feedback between the two radios caused a dissonant noise that nearly made Leo drop his radio. After Guy turned his radio off, Leo placed the device in his mouth and lept back into the vent. At first he was confused as how to even see, but a small spark served as a handy light so he could see the reflectors Guy had taped next to the correct passageways.  
_What I want to know is how Guy made it through this place in the first place. Can ghosts see in the dark? I'll have to ask Guy after I've gotten some sleep.  
_It only took Leo about ten minutes to get back to his room, only slightly longer than his previous trip to Guy's janitorial closet. He fell out of the opening onto the bed and used his barrier to float the vent cover back up to it's original position. After several tries to reconnect it, he became frustrated and just forced it into the opening roughly. Normally he would have been worried about someone noticing the broken cover, but he just wanted to get to bed. He hoped he didn't have to get up too early the following morning as he drifted off to sleep with the radio on his bedside table.

The dream Leo had next was honestly incomprehensible. It probably had something to do with the incredibly odd day Leo had just survived, and his first time connecting to the model. A rapid-fire series of images floated by in such quick succession that Leo felt sickened.  
The first thing that happened was some kind of huge explosion on the other planet, which somehow split the top off the geofront. He saw Model Z crushing something in it's hand, eyes blank and feral. Guy stood defiant atop one of the geofront domes, fighting off endless waves of masked foes with a gigantic flaming sword. Cole lay on the ground on top of Model R's chest. Both of them were pierced by the same spiral-shaped spear.

Leo awoke, laying on top of his rumpled covers. For a brief second, he tried to recall his dream, but couldn't for some reason. After several moments of thought, Leo decided not to worry about the dream.  
_Thinking too much about the past hampers your ability to face the present. Now, I need to see if Cole's alright.  
_With a quick flourish of his barrier, he lifted up the covers to the level of his standing height and then gave them a quick tug to straighten out the rumples. Then he dropped the covers down onto the bed, perfectly folded. He adjusted the globe with the frozen flame that Guy had chucked at him earlier this morning with his barrier across the room.  
_It's funny-I've got what are essentially superpowers and I'm just using them for the most mundane things. It's a bit like Cole using his tailflame to see in the dark or Guy passing through a wall to spy on people. What time is it now?  
_

The clock that he had checked earlier that morning now said the much more pleasant time of 9:30. Leo continued to look over the contents of the dresser. Besides the frozen ball with the flame, there was a small red and green badge drooped over a statue of a Oshawott and a small, silver watch with a luminescent blue dial.  
_I wonder why these are here. They seem like a personal collection of treasures. Did the owner get moved out of here and they couldn't take their stuff with them?  
_After examining the trinkets, Leo left his bedroom and walked over to his minifridge. He briefly wondered if constantly using his barrier could damage him considering he was an otherwise ordinary mon, but tried to push those thoughts away. He'd already been using it a lot and hadn't noticed anything, right? Regardless, he decided he'd talk to Guy about it later while he munched on a bunch of seeds. There was an entire bunch of pechas in the fruit drawer. Leo ate half of them and mentally berated himself for not conserving food, a skill he had been good at before he became a model pilot.

Fully rested, satiated, and ready to face a new day with everything he'd learned, he strode over to his door and pulled it open. The dormitory hallway was completely empty and silent. Remembering what Cole had said about his room being down the hall to the right from his, he headed that direction and came to a stop in front of his door. It was locked. Leo decided that he would get in anyway. He had to see if Cole was alright and tell him about his meeting with Guy. And Leo had never been all that good at taking no for an answer. He used his barrier to push the door handle on the inside and open the door.

The first thing he noticed about Cole's room was how clean it was. Everything in the room was technically the same as in Leo's, but spotlessly white. Nothing was out of place, everything was arranged perfectly. It didn't seem like a room a person would live in. Or could live in for that matter. There was no signs of life such as wrinkles on the couch or opened containers on the counter. He took several small steps toward the opened bedroom door. Inside, the bedroom was just as spotless as the main room, with nothing on the dresser besides the clock. The flame-proof blankets stretched across the bed were perfectly made, except for the small area in the center where Cole slept, stretched out to his full length and tail dangling off the end of the bed.

Leo was at a loss and had no idea how to awaken his friend. He eventually decided on sitting down on the spotless white carpet and wait for Cole to wake up. Leo noticed that Cole's window blinds were open, showing the outside of the geofront. There was a copious amount of light streaming in through the window, illuminating the two mons. As Leo padded over to the window and looked outside, Cole lifted himself up from his bed and sat upright, facing the window. Leo turned around and paused as Cole got up, walked over to the digital clock, and turned off the alarm.

Leo realized he hadn't even notice it going off in the first place. He took several steps over to Cole, who was busy changing the time on the alarm back to three AM. Once Cole was finished, he turned to Leo and sighed.  
"Did you recover Model R?" Cole said.  
Leo smiled. "Yeah, we did." he said. "I got the model teleporter working, so now we can just warp up to their planet instead of climbing the building." Cole didn't offer a response. "Come on, Cole. They were just waiting for one of us to climb up the tower. It wasn't something anyone could have expected. It's not your fault and it's not worth beating yourself up over." Still no response. "The truth is-the truth is that I've got no idea how to fight. Before I came here, running away seemed to solve all my problems better than anything else I'd tried. But now, I think that I'm going to need help in using the model to it's fullest potential. When I was trying to activate the model teleporter, their Model R warped in and tried to stop me from getting it working. He was trained in model to model combat, I wasn't. I would have gotten Model Z wrecked, and there would have been no hope of getting the teleporter working."

Cole looked up as Leo continued. "It was Guy. He saved us all by instructing me to keep the enemy model distracted while he fixed the teleporter. I charged it from some cut power lines, and here we are. I know you got beat down. But I got you back up again. Now I need your help to learn how to fight with the model so we can get revenge for what they did to you. Now isn't the time to just sit around and mope while your friends line up to be sacrificed. Now is the time to do what you can. And I know that you can do an awful lot, Cole. I believe in you."  
Cole smiled, and rested one paw on Leo's shoulder. "Come on, Leo. It's time for breakfast. I'll take you up on that offer there, partner."

They walked out the door and toward the elevator that Leo had ridden down on his first entrance to the geofront. Once inside, Cole punched a button to continue descending. For the first time, Leo noticed that there were buttons stretching downward for another foot at least. "Cole?"  
"Yes, Leo? Is something wrong?" Cole said.  
"Well, no, but I was just wondering something." Leo said. "Can I ask you a question?"  
"Sure. Go ahead. I'll answer it if I can." Cole said.  
"Alright then. How deep does this base go? There's like a whole other rack of buttons for basement floors!" Leo said.  
"And it goes even deeper than that." Cole replied with a smirk. "I know because I've been down to where the elevators end. It gets so hot down right next to the earth's mantle, that you either have to be a fire type-"  
"Or piloting a model." Leo realized.  
"Yep. That's it exactly. They usually just send a fire-type down there though. There's only two models, and they usually keep them busy with construction." Cole said.

The elevator came to a halt and the double doors slid open soundlessly. Leo was caught off guard by Cole's reply. As they walked out of the elevator towards the hallway leading toward another set of double doors, Leo decided to voice his confusion.  
"Construction work? Are you serious? The models can depopulate a continent and SEAL uses them for construction work?" he said.  
"Yeah. That was pretty much all I was doing with the model-VR training and construction work. This geofront didn't build itself, you know. I did. Well, mostly." Cole said.  
Leo was flabbergasted. "Why? Why waste such an amazing resource on something as menial as construction?" he said.  
Cole stopped walking and turned towards Leo. Leo stopped so suddenly his paws nearly slipped on the floor.

"Listen, Leo." Cole said. "We haven't always been at war here. We have been planning and preparing for this event for several decades, and this construction was the most important part of this readiness. You know the power of the barrier. A building could, and was, erected and finished manually within a few hours. Think before you insult someone's work next time."  
Leo was shocked. _I hope Cole's not too angry with me. How was I supposed to know that construction was such a big deal to him? I'm honestly sorry, but I've got no idea how to apologise. I'll stay quiet for now and once he's cooled down. Literally cooled down, heh. Because he's a fire type and that joke was terrible. Sorry. I'm not all that good at knowing what someone might be thinking. I've just got to watch what I say better. _

Cole and Leo walked through the sliding double doors into the nearly empty cafeteria. It was a rather nice place, with colorful decor making it look like a fancy restaurant. There was no one behind the buffet that ran the entire length of one side of the room, just huge bowls of all sorts of food. Cole strode to the end nearest the door, picked up a plate, and began to go down the line at a worrying speed, taking small portions of several of the dishes. As Leo watched Cole take the last of the juiced razzberries, he saw the empty bowl retract into the table. A timer appeared on the screen that normally showed what the dish was, counting down from thirty. Once the timer was finished, the bowl was refilled.

Normally this glorious sight would have greatly pleased Leo, considering his long history of desperately scrounging for food on the streets. But he was more occupied with figuring out how he was going to hold his plate and properly get his food onto it.  
_Okay, Leo. Just keep calm here. Try not to just use your barrier, there's got to be another way to do this. They must have other four-legged mons come and eat here, right? They've got to have some other means of doing this. First, I've got to get a plate.  
_Leo jumped up onto the higher counter and picked the plate up with his teeth. He walked along the line, stopping at a dish that caught his fancy and dropping his plate down on the line. Clamping his teeth around the serving spoon seemed to work, even if it was a bit long and awkward to maneuver comfortably. He picked up his plate in his teeth and continued.

Cole had reached the end of the line, and turned around, looking for Leo. He stopped, eyes narrowing, and began a brisk walk toward him. _Great. I messed up again. I just hope he's not too angry with me._  
Cole reached Leo, and came to a halt. His expression was less "_You fool!_" and more "_What._" "Leo? Why are you walking on top of the buffet?" he asked. "I knew I was missing something." Leo sighed. "How am I supposed to be doing it?"  
In response, Cole hit a button on the underside of the buffet counter. Underneath each bowl, a small door slid open, revealing a food-encrusted spout and a button with a paw marked on it. Leo got the message, and Cole held his plate as he jumped back down. After getting his food the proper way, both Cole and Leo sat down at a red booth.

Leo decided that it was about time he apologized. "Cole, I'm sorry for being rude about construction." he said. "You're the first friend I've ever had in my life, and I'm not always sure what to say or how to say it. I'm trying, and I hope that you can work with me on this."  
Cole smiled and popped a berry into his mouth. "I'm not really angry. I'm not the kind of guy to get angry. That was one of the first things they focused on-my hot temper. They forged it into a weapon as deadly as a barrier that I control, instead of it controlling me. Once we're done eating, we hit the model simulators. We're all in this together. I've said it before and I'll say it again."

Cole extended his fist across the table. Leo looked at it inquisitively.  
"It's called the fist bump." Cole explained. "It's something that Guy taught me about from his time as a human. Just curl up your paw and bump it into mine."  
Leo looked up. "Does that mean that we're good friends?"  
"Yeah. Of course, man." Cole said. Leo bumped Cole's fist. It was glorious.

"Wait." Leo said. "So you and Guy are old friends?"  
"Yeah." Cole said. "He was one of the only people I could trust, back when I was younger. He was a lot like an older brother to me, even though we weren't related. He was awfully proud of me when it turned out I was compatible with Model R. Guy said that I had a completely new destiny, unshared by any other person. I always trained alone, worked alone, and fought alone. For most of my life, I was the only model pilot. It's nice to have someone else who understands what my job is like, who I can trust to have my back. Having friends is always nice."

Leo crossed his paws, laying them on the top of the table. "Cole, how long have you been here?" he said.  
Cole stopped chewing. "Here? In the geofront? Do you mean living or working?" he asked.  
"Living." Leo said.  
Cole glanced around and leaned across the table, speaking in a quieter tone of voice. "I was adopted by SEAL's director before I could remember. I've got no idea who my original parents were. Guy told me once I got older that it was probably because of my genetic capability. We're the only two mons in the entire city who can pilot the models. They've probably got their best doctors on standby in case we fall down and scrape our knees. I started model training when I was just six. Back then, I was downright terrified of Model R. I had nightmares about an accident while synchronizing and getting stuck inside that thing forever."  
"So how did you get so comfortable with piloting?" Leo said.  
"Guy snuck me down to the capsules one night." Cole said. "I fell asleep synched, and that's when I discovered that they dream."

"Wait, what?" Leo said. "They aren't just robots." Cole said. "They can think, and I'm pretty sure that they have emotions too. That's how the synchronization works. They demoted Guy to janitor because he snuck me down there, and now they monitor all the brainwave activity so I can't even talk to R anymore. It doesn't matter. We're friends, me and him. Someday we'll be able to visit each other again. And now I'm not afraid when I pilot because I've got my best friends by my side, helping me each step of the way. You guys are why I fight."

Leo wiped the juice off his muzzle and blinked. "So do you think that Z has a central intelligence too?"  
"Probably." Cole said. "I don't know why not. They've put monitoring systems in the synch circuits though. That's probably why you aren't sure."  
_But I remember the Raichu. He was using some kind of link to the model's connection to give me advice- or something like that. But that small voice in the back of my head- that was probably Z. I'm guessing because that's what helped me avoid the other Model R's attacks that one time. I couldn't have done that on my own, that's for sure. _

Leo looked up to see Cole staring off over Leo's head and out the wide open window that let in the exterior light from the Geofront's artificial sun.  
_Oh yeah. R just got his face beat in yesterday, and Cole feels responsible. The models being sentient makes all this so much more complicated! It's not Cole's fault-if we left him attached to R he might have died from the feedback! I'm guessing I just shouldn't say anything. Even though I'm not worried about making Cole angry, I don't want to hurt his feelings.  
_Leo stood up from the table, pushing his empty plate into the disposal hole. Cole watched him, eyes blank. "Come on, Cole." Leo said. "Let's go see how R's doing." Cole nodded silently. The two left for the elevator without saying a word to each other.


	7. Chapter 7

Cole pushed another button to descend to a white hallway lined with a brown arrow labeled Capsules. Leo guessed that this was the way to the cockpits.  
As they walked down the empty hallway, Leo glanced through the windows on either side. They each contained a mon hard at work staring at a computer screen and an endlessly scrolling loop of numbers.  
"Hey Cole. What are those tech guys doing?" Leo asked.  
"They're looking over telemetry data from the models and working on regenerating Model R. It's nothing to concern yourself with. They've got jobs, and so do we. We need to focus on what we've got to do." Cole replied without slowing or turning around.  
Leo noticed the blank look on his friends face and held his tongue.

The double doors at the end of the corridor swung open automatically, revealing two capsules side by side, with several technicians examining screens and displays around the room. A large sign above on the far wall read "Test". Cole strode over to the capsule on the left, and closed his eyes as the glass top slid over him. Leo nervously walked over to the other capsule, and lay back. This time he braced himself for the sensation of liquid in his lungs, but it never came.  
Instead, he was just instantly controlling Model Z, and floating in some kind of white void.  
Off in the distance, he could see Model R floating. It gave a wave to him. Leo awkwardly returned the gesture. The ground formed as a series of wireframe patches, that resolved themselves into a boring dull green grass texture. Buildings rose up from the ground, forming a facsimile of the city's surface above the geofront. Cole stood at the far end of the main street, facing him down in a position not unlike that of a classic western gunfight.  
"Alright, Leo. Here we can practice the art of model to model combat. First, let's see what you already know. Hit me with your best shot." Cole said, voice echoing through the digital space.

_My best shot, he says? Well, I was always good at using the positron sniper cannon thingy… _Suddenly the cannon appeared in Leo's hands. Leo could feel the voice in the back of his head again. It laughed in a teasing way.  
_So you are Z? Thanks for earlier, but I don't really need this to train. _Cole hesitated for a minute before spawning his own sniper cannon with a flick of his fingers.  
"So you want to play sniper, eh Leo?" Cole said. "Well, it's no fun being a sniper if there's not another sniper to snipe! Good thinking by the way. The other planet probably has a sniper cannon of their own, so training with this is probably a good idea. You take the first shot, Leo!"  
Leo shouldered the gun and lay down to aim using the gun's tripod. Cole raised an eyebrow but failed to change his position, raising his cannon with one hand while keeping the other free. Leo squeezed the trigger, unleashing a motion wave beam that was harmlessly absorbed by Cole's barrier. Grinning savagely, Cole unleashed his own cannon's attack.  
Leo pulled himself up off the ground and lept into the air with a movement that was not all his own. He did a midair roll, jumping over the beam and running down the street toward Cole and the virtual Model R.

A model when considering it's large size isn't a particularly fast runner, as Electrode and Jolteon have it beat in terms of absolute speed. However, a model can run in excess of forty miles per hour. Considering they weigh over twenty tons, an impact with one at that speed would have enough force to reduce almost any structure to rubble. Knowing all this information, it's no surprise that Cole began to back up while changing his barrier to block electricity.  
Grimacing, Leo changed his barrier to block fire and charged up his other fist with lightning. He planned to use the same technique that the enemy Model R had tried on him- an elemental punch could do damage, regardless of the barrier. A model had to be able to do two barriers, one from each hand, to block an attack like that. And Leo knew he was the only person capable of doing that.

_You hear that, Z? I know you're the reason why I've got two barriers. _The presence became worried.  
_It's not a bad thing, really. I just wanted to know how I was doing some of this stuff. And it turns out it wasn't me doing it at all. Don't worry and keep it up. You saved my life out there on the surface, and I'm grateful to you for it. Friends have to stick together, right? So let's go together. We don't really have much of a choice, now do we?  
_A gentle laugh came in response. Leo leaped into the air and brought his fist back.  
"This is my best shot, Cole!" Leo shouted. "SUPER BLAST PUNCH!" Model Z's fist glowed with an awesome power.  
And then Cole dodged with a backflip, leaving Leo's attack to slam into the virtual concrete where Cole had been standing a second beforehand.

This sort of ground punch doesn't exactly work like you might think. First, it really hurts to punch the ground at full force. Second, it doesn't actually cause an energy shock wave when you do so. Because of these two things, Cole was able to hit Leo in the face with a blast of fire while he was stunned from smashing Model Z's hand. Even though the models were just simulated, the feedback still worked and Leo could feel his face burn from the heat.  
In retaliation, Leo reached out his hand and extended a barrier that smacked into the airborne Model R and knocked him backwards, spinning end over end. This time, Leo didn't jump dramatically. He ran forward and kicked Cole in the face, just as before they hit the ground.  
The kick sent Cole flying again, but he used his barrier to cancel his backwards momentum in a extremely unrealistic fashion. Leo continued his charge, unleashing lightning from one hand while preparing a flame barrier with his other. Cole just stood still, arms folded and smirking. The same pair of triangle shaped sunglasses appeared on his face.

Leo didn't even slow down as he brought his barrier fist back. Cole didn't even flinch as he saw Leo bearing down on him with his fist surrounded by a barrier. He was already planning his awesome counterattack involving a flaming dragon kick to Leo's face. What did throw him off was Leo summoning a blue pair of triangle sunglasses on his Model Z. This caught him off guard, meaning that his preemptive dragon kick was late, causing the two high velocity attacks to clash.  
The barrier neutralized the fire, and the punch clashed with the kick, creating a double physical calculation reaction and grinding the virtual world's processors to a halt from the slowdown. Through the curves of the flames, Leo saw Cole swinging his arm toward him at an excruciatingly slow speed. The voice that was Z made a suggestion, which Leo gladly accepted. They lifted their arm and mirrored Cole's punch, hitting him in the face just as they were hit in the face.  
"A CROSS-COUNTER!" Guy screamed with excitement, as he watched the feed from the training session in his dark janitorial closet. "Good job. Both of you. If you can fight each other this well, you can beat the other models. Keep it up, friends. I believe in you!" Guy said dramatically, pumping his fist-thingy in the air. And then the moment was completely ruined by Guy's stove alarm going off. "MAH BACON!" the Yamask screamed, turning back to his stove in a rush of motion.

Back in the simulation, Cole grimaced, his face aching from the blow. He charged his barrier around his right foot and performed a high crescent kick which Leo mimicked again, clashing their barriers and slowing the simulation down to a crawl. Leo took the first move first, unleashing a flurry of punches at Cole's chest. Concentrating and using the fading slowdown as the virtual world's spare processors came online, Cole marked the pattern of Leo's rapid fire fistcuffs and tried to mirror his moves perfectly. Their fists clashed again and again as the simulation returned to normal speed and their arms became blurred from the artificial sense of speed.

The pummel duel escalated until Cole split Leo's arms apart with a double grab and tried to headbutt him in the face. Leo countered with another headbutt, which clashed with Cole's. Staring each other down, they shifted to a brawler lock as they desperately tried to unbalance each other.  
Suddenly, a realization hit Leo. "You might know everything I'm going to do, but that's not going to help you BECAUSE I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO!" he screamed, dropping down to one knee and throwing Cole over his head. Cole used his barrier to turn in midair and use a burst of fire on the grounded Leo.  
"STRANGE, ISN'T IT!" he yelled in response.

The rest of the "fight" consisted of backflipping and constant barrier changes, but that's training for you. It's not terribly interesting, but it is hard work and necessary for the next big fight scene. A seated figure behind a desk studied the statistics from the training session, claws tented in front of his face. His eyes were the only part of him that moved, tracking the movement of the numbers representing the ongoing virtual fight as the models began to joust at each other with radio towers. The beep from his other monitor's speakers indicated that he had received a message from the council. He opened it and twisted open a bottle of juice. Pheonix- Pilots to scramble and attack enemy Geofront at 1600 hours.

Pheonix frowned and tapped a button, opening a spreadsheet of the Olympia Project's status. The numbers were not good.  
"No…" he said softly, folding his claws over his mouth. "I won't let this happen again." He reached for the button that would activate his desk microphone.  
"Kindly inform Cole and Leo to meet me in the model hangar in twenty minutes. Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry. It's nothing important. I just figured it would be nice for my two top workers to have a little chat with their boss. Neither of them has met me, so this will be a nice introduction for all of us." Pheonix took the council's silence as assent and cut the transmission. Turning back to his first monitor, he opened a new message and dashed off a quick query. Guy- I'm going to talk to the pilots in the hangar in a few. Please be there. They need your support. Satisfied, he got up from his chair and turned to the elevator door, humming.

The test capsule slid open, letting the cool air into the capsule and frosting the other pieces of glass. Leo felt the sweat droplets run down his muzzle as his eyes slowly began to see the lab's ceiling again. As a technician checked his pupil dilation and vital signs, Leo mused about the practical applications that a model could have outside of war.

_If someone wanted to work out, then this would be how to do it. I mean, I actually have muscle now. Maybe it could even be used for some kind of assistance for the handicapped. They could go from being helpless and completely reliant on others to being completely awesome. This mental connection could even help people learn how to walk again and even help those who've been blind see the sun and the clouds for the first time. But none of that can ever happen if we don't defend the geofront. If the enemy launches it's models outside of the city, they could wipe out the rest of our civilization. Maybe take them a week or two if we get lucky. And we're what's stopping that from happening. I wonder what kind of person those other pilots are- it's easy to write them off as hard, cold-hearted monsters without souls. That's what worries me. It's easy to just say that. But the truth is that the model's face is like a mask and I've got no idea what's behind it. Well, they probably have a fire type piloting Model R and an electric type on Model Z, but that doesn't narrow things down that much. _

The technicians finished examining Leo and gave him a thumbs up. Pulling himself up and stretching his legs, Leo cracked his neck and rolled over onto his underside. It was amazing how much faster he adapted to walking back on four legs the second time around, and he was standing up in just a few seconds. Hopping off the bed, he turned over to Cole's capsule to see him sitting up and smiling widely.  
"Good game, Leo. I really liked those rapid fire fistcuffs of yours back there." Cole said.  
"Well, I really wasn't expecting you to punch my punches out of midair!" Leo replied.  
"That's one of the first things Guy taught me." Cole said. "Have you ever heard of God Hand?"  
Their voices trailed off as they walked down the hallway. The technicians glanced at each other, bodies tense. Faintly from the other end of the hallway, they could hear elevator doors closing. They sprang into action, folding up beds, pushing computer screens back into slots, ripping off labcoats and throwing them into hampers. The equipment, including the capsules, slid back into the walls as the television dropped down from the ceiling. The technicians pulled on their sweatpants and poised as the music began to play. Calisthenics had begun.

Meanwhile, back at the janitorial closet, Guy had finally finished making a cream bacon and peanut butter sandwich when he received that message from Pheonix that you thought I forgot about.  
"God, why do people keep interrupting me with crap!" he whined. "I've got a very important date with MAH BACON." He floated over to his computer. When he checked the address line, his eyes nearly popped.  
"Pheonix? What are you thinking?" Guy closed his computer, grabbed his jacket, and took off into the air vents.

Back in the elevator, the overly upbeat and cheery elevator muzak cut off to be replaced by a loud announcement read by a robotic monotone.  
"Attention, Model Pilots. Please report to the model hangar immediately." Leo's first instinct was to look to Cole for an explanation, but his senior pilot had none.

The elevator continued downward as it's destination light changed to that of the hangar. The doors slid open, revealing the completely empty hangar space, except for the two model tanks and four beanbag chairs sitting in the center of the room.  
An extremely loud voice came over the loudspeakers mounted around the room. "SIT."  
Cole and Leo obliged themselves. With a dramatic woosh, the windows along the far side of the room became transparent, revealing a tall silhouetted figure back lit by several strong spotlights.  
Leo jumped to his feet and shouted, "Who are you?"  
The loudspeakers replied, "That is an excellent question. I am your boss and your commander. All your orders are handed down by me. I am the final defense of our existance and one of the original model pilots. I am-"

The air vent's grate was blasted off with a deafening crash as Guy punched his way through it. "PHEONIX!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.  
"GUY!" Pheonix responded.  
"ACHOO!" Guy sneezed.  
"BLESS YOU!" Pheonix shouted.  
"Enough of this crap." Guy said. "Come down here so we can settle this without any theatrics!" There was a pause. Then two doors swung open beneath the window and a figure appeared in the door frame. Surprisingly, Pheonix was far less imposing than the silhouette suggested. He was only about as tall as Cole was-and Leo realized that the great boss was only a charmander who walked toward them and threw himself over one of the bean bags with a strange half smile on his face.

There was an awkward silence as Guy took the remaining seat, glaring daggers at Pheonix the entire time. Leo glanced quickly over at Cole to read his expression. Cole was just as dumbstruck as he was, which was oddly satisfying. An awkward silence followed.  
Leo cleared his throat and tried to speak. "Mr. Pheonix, Sir- What is this all about? I mean, it's nice that you chose to talk to us like this, but I don't really get what's going on."  
Pheonix's smile disappeared. "Leo, first you don't have to call me mister." the boss said. "Or sir, for that matter. I'm not that much older than you. Basically I'm here to answer your questions, which I know you you have a lot of. You've always had an inquisitive mind- our reports of your early testing scores show that. So ask away, any of you. You just feel free to say something when you feel like it, Guy."

Leo mused for a second before asking. "Why did you demote Guy to janitor?" Both of the older mons shifted uncomfortably.  
"Well, first, that wasn't really my decision." Pheonix said. "The council made the order, and there was no real way of getting around it."  
"But, I'm not just a janitor." Guy explained. "I still have my level ten acess abilities, meaning that I'm still able to do almost anything I did before at my previous job. Pheonix may be pragmatic, but he watches out for the mons who work for him."  
Cole blinked twice. "So what was your previous job, Guy?" he asked.  
"I was the subcommander of SEAL." Guy said. "That means that I worked alongside Pheonix. Our parents worked together back when we were kids."  
"And you both are frustrated with each other because-" Cole asked.  
"Because I've kept secrets from him and haven't been open about things." Pheonix said bluntly with a blank expression. "I thought that I could carry the burden of knowing the truth about things by myself. I didn't want anyone else to suffer from knowing too much, and I don't want the council to punish any of you."

"That reminds me- About that time when you demoted Guy for helping me visit Model R?" Cole said. "What was the big deal with that?"  
"The council doesn't want to risk mental contamination of the models." Pheonix said." Basically, no one knew what would happen if someone synchronized while asleep, and we were all worried about you, Cole."  
"Worried?" Cole said. "I think I know why. You just need me because I'm useful to you-because I can pilot the model. I'm not stupid. I know how things work down here."  
Pheonix sighed and got up from his seat. "That's a good guess, Cole. In almost any other circumstance, you would be right. I can only protect you because you can pilot the model. But that's not all. The truth is both worse and better than you may think." He turned toward the far wall of the hangar next to the model tanks. "Lights, please."

The wall folded into two doors, which slid out to the sides of their original places. Behind in the room was row after row of tanks filled with the same green-yellow liquid used for the models. Leo squinted, realizing that there was a dark form in each and every one of the hundreds of capsules.  
"That is the culmination of the council's plans," Pheonix said while pressing another button, turning on each tank's lights and revealing the occupants. "The creation and duplication of life itself!" The first row was filled with charmanders, eyes tightly shut and tails unlit. Next was the endless line of shinx, fur waving in the circulating liquid. Then there was the yamask row. The other Pokemon Leo had seen at the cafeteria. The aerobic dancing technicians. And the rows kept going.  
"Do you understand now, Cole?" Pheonix continued. "We've got nearly two thousand backups of you. Perfect clones. If you die in a model, we've got a protocol to engage a full synchronization and store your personality and memories, which can be sent back here and transferred into another one of you. Ideally, you wouldn't even know that you died. This has already happened. The attack from the enemy model Z stopped your heart, Cole. We transferred you into a spare body and everything worked perfectly. You can still pilot. As far as the council is concerned, your life means nothing."

Cole looked up, his face blank. Pheonix crouched down and placed his hand on Cole's head.  
"But, I don't concern myself with what the council thinks." Pheonix said. "Replicas or not, any life deserves to be protected-"  
Cole pushed Pheonix's arm off of his head and began to rip the bean bag to shreds.  
"If it makes you feel any better, that wasn't your original body." Pheonix continued. "We transferred you out to the prototype clone back when you were just a little boy. It meant that we could give your clones the ability to use the barrier outside of the model- by yourself. That was my idea. The council didn't want the barrier feature implemented, because we've got thousands of backup bodies. I talked them into it out of a respect of life, so you could protect yourself from dying any more than necessary."

Silence grew over the small assembly. Pheonix sighed and pressed the same button to close the door with the tanks behind it.  
Leo shifted his position on the bag and broke the silence for a second time. "You said something about mental contamination from the models. What did you mean by that? What makes us able to pilot?"  
Pheonix stood up from his seat and turned toward the door. "Are you ready for this?" he said with as little emotion as possible. "You want me to tell you everything-without holding back? I'm not sure that anyone is ready to hear the truth." Leo looked back over his experiences with the intelligence Cole had called Z.  
_There were a lot of strange things when I was piloting that I didn't do on my own. There was that one time where something helped me block that laser, and then there was me being able to do to barriers at once. It even offered to help me. Just what is that thing? Why would it care about me?  
_"Do it, Pheonix." Cole said. "Tell us everything." The small group turned to him in surprise. Despite the blank look in his eyes, his words exuded determination.

Pheonix began to talk, turning back toward the group and slowly beginning to sit down into a slump as he continued.  
"The models are alive-creatures from somewhere-somewhere else. They were originally one organism that split into three elemental dragons during the environmental crisis that happened ten years ago. You know, the one that wiped out half the country to the south? That was the creature arriving, and the energy reaction that unfused it. We tried to communicate with the dragons, but they completely ignored us and any attempts we made to communicate with them. They ignored us like we were unintelligent bugs, too small to be worth their time. So we tried to fetter them. They tried to destroy our civilization, ignoring us and smashing any area that was densely populated. Me, Guy, and the rest of the Council were members of a top group of scientists who had studied the aliens. We were just a little older than you kids back then, and our parents were coworkers and good friends. The government hired them to find a solution to the invasion, and our parents ultimately came up with a solution that led to this entire huge mess. The original dragon with the powers of ice had sealed itself in a tomb after the other dragons separated from it. Initially, we took the ice creature into containment. We realized that the other dragons were looking through populated areas with high levels of technology because they were trying to find their companion."

"So let me get this straight." Leo said, one eye beginning to twitch. "People were getting slaughtered because these aliens were having a game of hide and seek?" "Exactly." Pheonix whispered, continuing to literally slump into the beanbag. "We didn't know that at the time, only in hindsight. We decided to use the ice dragon as a trap to lure the others back into a trap, and then we were able to use cybernetic technology to connect to them on a mental level. That's how the synchronization works. In hindsight, maybe implanting the painful technology into their spinal columns wasn't the nicest way to introduce ourselves to them as a species. We were just trying to see if we could control them and see if we could recombine them with the ice dragon. But then Raoh began to get messages from the white dragon, who had somehow hacked his computer. The messages were disturbing- and that's when we first learned that the models could think."

"Who is this Raoh person?" Cole said, adopting a thoughtful demeanor.  
_Wait, Raoh? That Raichu that I met yesterday who talked to me through the connection?  
_Pheonix continued. "Raoh was one of my closest friends. We were like brothers back then, and you would be hard-pressed to see one of us without the other. But then, he struck up a series of conversations with the dragon. Our parents found out, of course, and soon the entire council was eagerly reading each new message from our new-found intelligence. Then, we got another direct order from the government. They were pleased with the progress we had made, and how we had successfully managed to contain the models. But then they wanted more. We got a thick file full of schematics for advanced devices and a detailed five year plan to begin the final project to construct this base and develop the creatures into pilotable models."  
"So where did this plan come from?" asked Guy. "Who wrote it, in other words?" "  
Frankly, I have no idea." said Pheonix. "The report even specified that Raoh was meant to be the pilot of the lightning dragon now known as Model Z. I mean, it made some sense, considering that they knew each other and could even be called friends, but we were still just kids. Everyone was initially against the plan, even if it would mean losing our jobs. But the government sent some of their lackeys to oversee our business and ensure that their orders were carried out. And then everything went horribly wrong."

"What happened!" asked all three listeners at once.  
"And then Raoh died." Pheonix muttered.  
Leo literally froze. _Wait. So that Raichu couldn't have been Raoh! No wonder why no one's mentioned this guy._  
"When he synchronized with the model, there was some sort of accident." Pheonix said. "His synchronization spiked and the model went crazy and bashed out of the restraints. We were able to shut it down, but when we removed Raoh from the capsule, he was literally without a pulse or any brainwave activity. The model sucked his self out from the back of his neck," Pheonix pinched his claws together, "just like that. And that is why I pulled you out of Model R so fast, Cole. I didn't want any chance of a synchronization spike like that happening again. Of course, I could have just brought out one of the clones, but trying to synchronize with yourself would cause another synch spike, and then probably the end of the world as we know it. No one's been crazy enough to test it. That's pretty much it, as far as the models and their intelligence have to go. The council these days is little more than an arm of the government, and I'm one of the only people left who still remembers the old days."

The commander paused and sat upright, tenting his claws in front of his face. "For the longest time, I held these memories on my own." he continued. "It was just easier to keep things to myself, but I hadn't realized how much I've kept to myself. We're all in this together, and it isn't right to carry a burden all on my own. You guys remind me of our group of friends back when I was a kid. So young, full of optimism."  
As if he had been reminded about something, Pheonix made an abrupt change from his reminiscing. "But I've been rambling for far too long about my past. Do any of you still have questions?"  
Nervously, Leo raised his hand. "Yeah. If Raoh died a long time ago, then who was that Raichu who gave me a tutorial to controlling the model? I'd like to talk to him." Everyone froze and stared at Leo.  
He reacted defensively. "What? I just wanted...Oh god that was Raoh. In the model. The whole time. I'm guessing I'm in shock again and I'm glad I'm sitting down." Guy turned to Pheonix, his face showing shock and frustration. "Are you serious?" he yelled. "We've kept a living, thinking being locked down in one of those tiny tanks for the past ten years while we've been waiting for this war to begin? That's horribly unethical and cruel to say the least! Even those poor prisoners in solitary confinement get to move! How much suffering has your best friend gone through because of this-"

Pheonix looked up from behind his claws. "Turn around, very slowly." he asked with a whisper. Leo turned to see the Model floating in the tank, eyes focused on them. One arm, tied down with cables and wires, moved up to eye level. One claw extended and tapped against the side of the tank, which due to the model's strength produced a **boom** that seemed to shake the ground the group was sitting on.  
"He's been watching from in there." Pheonix continued. "He's got access to the security cameras-it's the least I could do given everything. But he's still angry with me. I can tell. Those eyes don't contain a shred of mercy for me. I don't expect forgiveness for what I've done, and I'm forever dreadful of the day that all this is over and we don't need the models anymore. Now, I'm the object of his anger, his hatred. I'm the mad scientist, the crazed boss, and the complete monster. Do you understand why I'm the monster instead of him? His only fault was being friends with an alien-and that's a great thing if you look at it in a certain way."

There was a pause.  
"You should get to the capsules, both of you. The council ordered me to send you after the enemy geofront. If we don't go, they'll hold us captive for insubordination." The ghost of a smile crossed the commander's face. "It's endgame time now. Be careful, both of you. Just try to avoid hurting anyone else. There's already enough suffering in this world, and plenty in the other one up there, I'm guessing." With a crunch of styrofoam, the charmander got up from his seat and began to cross the hangar toward the door. Leo turned and glanced at the model again. He could clearly see the red eyes following Pheonix as he walked.  
_Raoh...Are you angry? From what I heard from you, you sounded rather happy and upbeat for a literal prisoner in that body. Do you hate the commander? I don't blame him for what he's done._

Guy looked over to his two charges and sighed. "You'd better get going. Pheonix doesn't like to mince words, and we're going to need those models ready to launch at a moment's notice." Leo and Cole nodded and began to walk toward the capsules. Leo hesitated and turned back to Guy.  
"Guy?" Leo asked. "Where are you going?" Guy stared up at the window above the hangar and then turned to Leo.  
"I'm going to go talk with Pheonix." He said. "We've got to form a plan about what we should be doing next. Don't worry about us, just get going. You'll have a few minutes while we get things together on our end, so I guess you could talk to Raoh for a while. You've been the first person he let sync with him, so I guess that means that he likes you."  
"How am I supposed to make small talk with a giant robot?" Leo groused. "I've got no idea where to start."  
"You can start by explaining what's on your mind." Guy replied as he began to leave. "Tell him what's been bothering you, what makes you joyful. Open your heart to him. It's the only way any of us are going to get through this."  
Leo turned back toward the capsules and broke into a run. Cole was already inside his room and closing the door. For a moment, their eyes met.

And then the blast doors closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Leo slowed to a walk and entered his own room. He slumped to the floor by his capsule, mind whirling.  
_That wasn't actually Cole who I just talked with. He's got Cole's memories, personality, training, skills, and abilities, but it isn't him. It's accurate in every way that matters, but is that guy the same one I became friends with? I don't want to see him sad, but what can I do? What would make the people I care about happy?  
_His gaze fell on the open capsule. Leo hoisted himself in and lay down as the glass slid over his head. There was that crackle at the back of his mind again, oddly familiar and welcoming. Leo smiled.  
_Hey, Raoh. How's it been?_

An earsplitting scream nearly shocked Leo out of his synchronization as his eyes snapped open. He was controlling Model Z, and he was watching Cole fall and the enemy model beat him to death. As the limp form of Model R spun end over end in midair, Leo was barely able to breathe. Time slowed to a standstill, and color left the recording as it came to a halt.  
Finally. You do not want to know how many times I had to relive that.

The outlines of buildings fell away, leaving nothing but Leo and Model Z standing in another empty, white, featureless plain. Leo dimly realized that the voice was coming from above his head.  
Hey there, Leo. Long time no see.  
Both Leo and the model reacted with surprise. "COLE!" he yelled.  
The charmander appeared in front of them, eye wrapped in bandages and chest stained with blood. That made the smile on his face fall squarely into disturbing.  
The one and only. I've been dead for about sixteen hours. They transferred my data out of Model R and stashed me in one of their computer systems. Thanks to some of Guy's backdoor spyware programs, I was able to hack myself out and download myself to your model.  
Leo blinked. "Dude, I'm not sure if I should give you a hug or freak out. Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you alive again, but you look like a zombie."

The original Cole pulled the bandages off of his head, revealing a black eye patch covering his eye. Then he wrapped the bandages around his chest wound and tied them off. Better? The apparition asked. Leo was at a loss for words.  
"Cole" turned to Model Z and smiled again. Hey, Raoh.  
The model took a step backwards, a look of surprise written across its face. **How did you know?**  
"Cole" shrugged, acting somewhat sheepishly. I read the original documents on your case file once I broke out of the storage they've got for the computerized intelligences. I'm here because I need help from both of you. The council's ordered Pheonix to keep my body in storage. But if we can get my body back, I can come back to life. Being an immortal ghost in the computer system has it's benefits, but I miss being alive.

Leo blinked twice. "So, let me get this straight. You want to get to your body, so you managed to enter into the model's synchronization somehow. Why do you need us to help, exactly? Can't you just download yourself back into your body?"  
"Cole" turned away from the others and made a gesture with his hands. The plains erupted into a wire frame recreation of the geofront's interior.  
Unfortunately, the morgue is separated from any of the computer networks, so I can't just download myself in. And my body's on ice, and seeing that I'm essentially a computer program right now... Yeah. I need someone to get me into the lab and unthaw my body so I can reactivate it.

**I've got an idea. **Leo and Cole turned to the model, who was tapping his chin in thought. **If I can use my barrier to remotely puppet some sort of robot with Cole downloaded onto it, then we can use Guy's security clearance to get into the morgue and dethaw the body.  
**That might work! Guy's got a miniature Gundam robot he likes to tinker with in his closet. It's got a hard drive, optics, everything but an AI. I guess I'll be supplying that. But there's one revision I want to ask of you guys. I want to go talk to Cole and have his help with this operation.  
"Cole? Why?" Leo asked. "We're happy to help you out."  
I know that. But if my replacement can do the same thing that you were planning to, than he should do it. The geofront needs you and Raoh to defend it.  
**Us? Forgive me, Cole, but I don't understand your reasoning.**

Copy!Cole isn't in any condition to fight. I know Pheonix meant well, but telling him that he's just a clone has destroyed the way that he views the world. Leo, now that you know the truth about Raoh, your synchronization level might be high enough to recombine with the original. Do you have any of Model Z's old memories, Raoh?  
The model stared off into the distance, eyes unblinking. It snapped its fingers, turning the white expanse into a perfectly spherical cave lined with crystals of ice. In the center was a round chunk of ice with a figure inside.  
Leo realized that it was the thing that the technicians were melting in his dream. It was a particularly uncanny likeness. _Maybe it's mental feedback from my high synchronization score. _

**This is all I can show with this much processing power. It's the original dragon, isn't it?  
**"Cole" nodded. Yeah. According to the data, the other dragons were searching to find and recombine with it. That was stopped by the model project, but theoretically if there is a high enough synchronization rate, Leo could control the fused dragons.  
"And what would this plan do for us?" Leo said.  
"Cole's" eyes flashed. It will mean victory. Being able to control both lightning and ice to an even greater degree would let you easily stop the enemy models with a tactical advantage and a surprise attack. Copy!Cole may not be able to fuse with the original, but he can defend the hangar if the fusion takes too long, and he can help me. Maybe I can talk to him and get him to realize that he's a person too. His life matters just as much as mine does. Clone or no clone, he deserves a friend. Once all this is over, Leo, you should talk to him.

"Me?" Leo said. "I've got no idea what to say to him. He's not you."  
Exactly. That's the point you need to make to him- that he' a person and deserves your attention and friendship. I'm going to transfer myself over to Model R.  
"Cole" waved his hand, opening another wire frame of numerous passageways underneath the hangar leading downward toward a large circle marked ORIGIN.  
Good luck, both of you. Take the far door and use the elevator down. Remember, we're all in this together. And with that, "Cole" blinked into nonexistence, off to talk with his doppelganger.

Leo turned to Raoh, eyebrows raised. "Do you really think that fusing with the original is a good idea?" he asked. "I mean, there's no guarantee that that will even work. Once they find out we aren't launching like they want, the council will flip. Shouldn't we ask Pheonix about things first?"  
**Hold on. **Raoh quickly moved his fingers over a small keyboard, punching in a message in only a few seconds. **That should tell Pheonix what we've been thinking. He should be able to turn off the security cameras so the council doesn' t know what's going on. All we have to do is wait for his reply.  
**"Well then. So what do we do now?" Leo said.  
**I was thinking we could talk like Guy recommended. If we're going to combine with the Origin, we need to get our synch score as high we can.  
**With a flash, the imposing figure of Model Z was gone. In it's place was the same Raichu that had guided Leo through forming his virtual cockpit and who had saved his life out on the battlefield. Raoh.

**I chose this form so I could pass myself off as a technician when we talked. I probably would be one of those coat-wearing number crunchers if I hadn't gotten myself stuck like this.  
**Leo looked around himself, and back to Raoh. "Can we have a seat? This might take a while." Leo took the initiative and summoned the chair from his virtual cockpit. Raoh sat down on a long couch and curled his tail around him, waiting expectantly. **Well? What do you want to talk about first?**  
"First, I want to know what you thought when I first became a pilot yesterday." Leo said. "You know, your point of view. I want to know what it's like to be a weapon of mass destruction."  
**Well, I was excited. I've got access to all the security cameras, and I knew that Pheonix was planning to have you pilot me. It's been fifteen years since I came in here, and I wasn't much older than you back then. I've been a silent watcher of all sorts of people, and completely unable to talk to any of them. That's why there wasn't a proper login sequence because I was so excited to finally have some kind of contact with a person again. Just talking with you was the greatest thing that ever could have happened with me. **

"How could Pheonix do something so terrible?" Leo said. "He cut you off from everyone for ten years... Why was I the first to sync with you?"  
**To be completely blunt, Pheonix was worried that any other person who tried to synch with me would be lost themselves, forever trapped inside the model. He doesn't want anyone else to be hurt, which is why he had the public records of my situation destroyed. Don't speak ill of Pheonix. Every night, he came down to the hangar and talked to me. He told me everything, every thing that caused him problems and all his successes, and he never stopped telling me how sorry he was. Pheonix may be many things, but a bad friend is not one of them. Nothing could be farther from the truth. **

"Okay, next question." Leo said. "I've heard about what happened ten years ago from Pheonix, and the secret files that the original Cole downloaded, but you're the primary witness to most of the events from back then. What happened to you?"  
**The dragon asked me all sorts of things when I started getting his communications. They're still probably saved in a secure database somewhere. It's funny- he started off talking like a programming language with "Query" and "Identify", but after a couple of weeks he was imitating how we talked. I think that first he was copying the email program's coding or something. Anyway, we didn't have capsules back then. There weren't proper restraints on the model itself either. We weren't prepared for any serious disaster. You know why everything went wrong? My initial synchronization was too high, and it pulled me into the model. Pheonix deliberately kept Cole afraid of Model R to keep him from getting too high of a synch score.  
**"Are you serious?" Leo said. "Then when he demoted Guy and punished Cole, it was just because he wanted to keep them safe. Wow."

**That's not all. Do you remember when Cole mentioned being genetically compatible with the model? That's a complete lie.  
**"What? You're serious? Then does that mean that anyone can synch with a model then?" Leo said.  
**Yes. But not everyone can do it safely. You see, most people would have an initial synchronization that would be high enough to destroy their bodies, leaving them trapped in the model like me. Cole has a rare genetic mutation, present in only a small percentage of the population. He can't raise his synch much above the baseline activation, meaning he can't activate two barriers or do many of their advanced functions. To compensate, Pheonix kept him down here and trained him every day for twelve years. He's technically the commander's adopted son, but it's more like SEAL owns him. **

"This is a lot to take in." Leo said with his usual understated attitude. "But what about me? Everyone down here has been expecting me-mentioned something about plans and stuff. Why me, if anyone can synch with the model?"  
**Because this whole thing has been a part of a vast experiment.  
**"Experiment? Was the government responsible for this?"  
**Yeah. As soon as they learned of my accident, they decided to obtain two pilots and train them according to basic principles of learning. There were plenty of orphans from the disasters caused by the dragon's arrival, and SEAL was able to adopt the two of you with a minimum cost and effort. Are you aware of the nature versus nurture debate?  
**"I've heard it mentioned, but I don't really know what it means. How do you know so much about it?"  
**Being immobile all day every day gives you plenty of time to read.  
**"How did you avoid going crazy? Being stuck in a tank for fifteen years sounds horrible."  
**Who says I didn't? That's why I tore up the lab. These restraints were for a good reason back then. I was crazy for about two years. Not too bad, three stars out of five. I don't have any plans to do it again, though.**

Leo's eye twitched. "So you're telling me that you got bored with insanity? How the hell did you manage to do that?"  
**Insanity is doing the same thing over and over. I kept trying to break free, and I kept getting stopped. That kind of repetitive crap sorta bores you after a while. And then I got my old memories back, regretted my anger, and calmed down. It's not so much of a problem these days.  
**"I'm sorry, but this is all a little hard to believe. You said something about nature and nurture earlier?"  
**Oh yeah. Alright, let me try to explain. You see, nature is essentially the effect that someone's past experiences and genetics have on your personality and actions. Nurture is the belief that what someone teaches you is most important in making you who you are.  
**"So Cole is Nurture, and I'm Nature. That means that SEAL could have taken me off the streets at any time, but they were perfectly content to let me starve and get stomped into the pavement. I understand scientists like experimenting, but that's downright cruel."

**If it makes you feel any better, you never were in any real danger. SEAL had Section 2 bodyguards for you everywhere you went.  
**"Bodyguards? I never saw any bodyguards at all." **That means that they were doing their job very, very well. The gang you were with were just actors. Did you ever notice how food always arrived just when it seemed like you couldn't take the hunger anymore? We were always looking out for you, Leo. It might seem unfair, but we can't change the past. I should know. But what we can do is make sure that our sacrifices weren't in vain.  
Hey Leo, there's one more thing I'd like to say. I've actually got that genetic mutation I mentioned earlier.  
**"Wait? You're serious? Then why did the model destroy your body?"  
**It's because I was scared. There wasn't any previous tests with synchronization, and it bothered me. I mentioned that the model and I were friends? What do you do to a friend of yours if they're scared?  
**"I'd try to comfort them? Give them a hug or something? Oh wait that's what happened."  
**Yeah. That boosted my synch enough to push me over the danger threshold and landed me in here. You know, me being in this thing is why you're able to pilot safely. Your synch score is so high that you'd be stuck in here too. My "death" made the model safe to use. It's all about sacrifice, Leo. **

With a flash, the room and the chairs disappeared, leaving Leo in control of the model inside of the tank.  
In front of him was Pheonix's reply. Go for it. I'm launching Cole in Model R through the Geofront's lake to hold the enemy off and buy us some time. Good luck, both of you. -Pheonix.  
**Well, we'd better get going then.  
**Leo winced as the hoses and wires pulled off of the model's armor. "Yeah. So how are we gonna do this?"  
**My guess is that Pheonix will tell us when he's turned the security cameras off. Then we bust through the capsule door, pick up your capsule, and attach it to the back of my neck.  
**"Wait, what? Are you serious? That doesn't sound like a good idea."  
**I know it sounds crazy, but the council can just disable the connection between the capsule and the model once the security feed cuts off. If we bring the capsule along, we can ensure a steady connection, but on the other hand, you could actually die if someone hits the capsule hard enough.  
**"Yeah. I understand. Let's go."  
**Are you sure?  
**"If I just stand around, people are going to die. If there's even the slightest chance for me to help someone, then I'll take it. I won't run away."  
**That's what I like to hear. **

"Sir! Model Z has activated!" shouted one of the technicians, who was busying himself with draining the tank's fluid.  
Pheonix removed his claws from in front of his face, breaking into a smile. _Good luck to you all. There's no guarantee that this will work, but we'll all die if we don't do something. At least we won't be dying for nothing. _"Excellent." the commander said. "Finish draining the tanks and open the launching gates."  
His voice took on a softer tone. "And if something happens to any of us, I'd like to take this time to say good job to all of you for staying here with me for so long. You've made this man proud. Thank you. If anyone wants to leave here, start running now. You all know the risks. We've got no idea if this is going to work, but I'm willing to give it a shot."  
Not one of the employees moved. A cheer broke out in the operations room, applause and exclamations for the one person who felt he deserved it the least.  
_If we all die here today, at least I gave them the chance to leave. No regrets. _Pheonix straightened up and shouted into his microphone.  
"All right, everyone! We are go! Kill the cameras!" With a loud crash, Model Z ripped the capsule room's blast door off it's hinges.

Cole lay in the capsule, his thoughts wandering.  
_I don't really know what to say. What do you say when someone tells you aren't who you think you are? I still remember everything, but that doesn't seem to make much difference to them. And then there's the way Leo looked at me. He saw his best friend die, and he can't bring himself to trust his imposter. Copy. Clone. I'd have trouble if my friend was replaced by an identical stranger, but this is different. I'm the same as Cole, but I'm a completely different person. I didn't exist before yesterday, any more than a ham hock can existentially exist. Leo wants me to feel better, but he isn't sure how to talk to me. I don't blame him. How can I feel better when I'm not even sure what I am? _The pinging of an instant message brought the pilot out of his reverie.  
Cole, the enemy has cracked our shield codes and is teleporting both their models and several millitary units into our geofront. Leo has a special mission to undertake with Model Z. Your job is to use the entrance into the geofront's lake and mount a suprise attack on the enemy to buy us time. -Pheonix.

Cole shuddered and lay back on the padding, eyes focused on the message.  
"So I'm just cannon fodder. That makes sense, actually. Just send in the clones, no one cares about them. They don't have feelings-or friends-or rights. No one needs me anymore. If I kill myself right here, they can have another replacement ready in ten minutes. It's a funny feeling to know that your life is worth less than that sheet of glass that covers the capsules."  
Cole reached a wavering hand up to the glass and rested his claws against it. "They won't even let me leave. How disgusting." His claw seemed to move on it's own, tracing words into the glass. Cole doubled over and clutched his stomach. "I...feel sick AND NO ONE CARES!"

Warning klaxons and a mechanical voice rang out, bringing Cole back to reality.  
**Alert! Alert! Contamination in metaphysical bridge between capsule and model! Synchronization canc**- Put a sock in it, you waste of sillicon! I know what I'm doing BECAUSE I WATCH TV! Cole blinked. That second voice had sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it through his cloud of despair. He was back in the white room, meaning that synch had happened to some degree.  
"What just happened?" Cole asked. His response was a scream.  
COLE! Let's see you grit those teeth, me! Ghost!Cole burst into existence from a ring of fire, and punched Cole in the face as hard as he could.

Cole tumbled into a backwards roll, and landed square on his tail sitting upright. Looking up, he saw another him. Only this one had bloody bandages wrapped around his chest and an eyepatch with the SEAL logo on it. Ghost!Cole snapped his fingers and blinked across the room, coming to a halt with his claw on Cole's nose.  
Who the hell do you think I am! the virtual ghost shouted.  
"Me from the future?" Cole guessed.  
Oh, so close. Nope. I'm the original Cole! Well, what's left of him anyway.  
"So, a ghost then. And you're haunting me. Fantastic."  
Nope! Well, that's actually pretty close. But I'm not here to drag you down, I'm here to get you back on your feet! Don't worry about being me, do the best that you can to be you!  
"Well, that's sort of a problem. I've got no idea who I am."  
Well, maybe I can help with that. You're Cole. You were conceived on this day fifteen years ago. You can't stand pecha berries and you love calcium. You're good friends with Leo and Guy.  
"Nice try, but you just described yourself. I'm not you."  
Exactly! I knew you would say that! But that's what we have in common. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Guy and Leo are still your friends, they just don't know what to say right now. It's not every day you learn that you've got like a thousand friends that you didn't know about. Your life has meaning, Cole. When you were just a hatchling and I was just starting training, the council ordered a selection of the copies for surgical examinations and experimentation. They would have cut you up to form some kind of model autopilot. Pheonix stood up and said no. He claimed that if they touched any of us, he'd go straight to the world government with enough information to put them all away for illegal cloning.  
"But, that would have landed him in jail too! He would implicate himself for being the commander of the project!"  
And he went ahead, saving your life. The council backed down. I saw so many things after I died. I got into the sealed databases because the firewalls aren't too secure with Guy data mining all up in here, and now I know how much you mean to the commander. I'm not here to yell at you and punish you into moving. I'm here to change something. Here, let me help you.

The white faded away, and Cole was looking through the model's eyes.  
You feeling alright?  
"A bit sick, but I feel a lot better."  
That's good. A double synchronization like this wouldn't be possible normally, except for the fact that I'm dead and we're mentally the same! This should raise our synch score, but hopefully not enough to enter the danger zone.  
**-Double Barrier Control engaged-**  
"What? That's that one handed thing that Leo likes to do, isn't it?"  
If we're going to fight two other models, we're going to need it. I can help you with controlling the barriers and can influence your movements, but I don't have a body. I can't do this by myself. If we win today, it's because you were brave and fought well. It's an honor to fight alongside you, Cole.

Cole saw the tank liquid begin to drain away. Turning to his side, he saw Model Z staring forward, red eyes unblinking.  
"Hey, other me. How's Leo doing?"  
He's worried about you. I talked with him, and he's awfully confused about all this. I don't really blame him, though. I told him that we could work everything out later if we survive.  
"Great. What's his plan?"  
He's trying to go down to the lowest level of the base and combine with the original dragon to become more powerful.  
"Are you kidding me? That'll never work!"  
Says the guy who's going off to fight an entire army on his own.  
"I'm not on my own. I've got my model, and I've got you, me. If I die here, you can still get your body back later, right?"  
Assuming the enemy doesn't blow up the entire base, then yes. We could even give you another body if you die out there, as long as we hold them off long enough. "Then the only thing I have to fear is fear itself. Funny."

A voice echoed over the loudspeakers. "All right, everyone!" Pheonix shouted. "We are go! Kill the cameras!"  
The tank doors slid open and the models surged forward. Cole made a beeline for the lake exit, while Leo marched over to the capsules and put his fist through the door. The hangar exit slid open, revealing a glass cylinder with a hatch in the floor and the ceiling.  
Standing in the center, Cole pushed two levers on the top hatch and screwed it open. Thousands of gallons of water poured down on top of the model's head. Holding his breath, he began to swim upward through the tube. Another hatch greeted him, this one opening outward. He swung it open, only to be greeted by a flash of light and a shockwave that nearly made him lose his grip on the side of the exit.

Hang on and wait for another opportunity, Cole. You don't want to fall back down the hatch.  
"What the heck was that?"  
Looking up and switching filters to see through the water better revealed a large ship above them, raining down explosives into the depths of the lake.  
"No… they knew we'd try to get out this way! What do we do?"  
Simple. We eliminate the ground forces that they probably have by throwing the boat into them.  
"What?"  
If we head toward the shallow side of the lake, the ship will follow us. We can use the barrier to protect ourselves from the explosions. We can take out a good portion of them because it's crazy enough to work. With our upgraded barrier, we can do this, Cole. Do you have a better idea? 

Cole froze as another shockwave slammed into the model.  
_I don't understand… The plan does make sense, from a logical standpoint. Using the ship could help me block the ranged attacks from the models, but this doesn't feel right! I can't just go up there and kill hundreds of people. On one hand, they are trying to kill me. On the other hand, we've been trying to kill them! If there was just some way I could resolve this without a fight…_ Cole's eyes snapped open.  
"That's a good plan. Let's go." he said.  
All right. I've got a passive barrier up so you can concentrate on moving us faster.  
Model R pushed off the bottom, legs kicking as it's barriers glowed, creating a region of lower-density water surrounding it and enabling it to move through the water faster.  
_If I can just get the ship as a shield, then I can force the other enemy forces into an impasse. If they have the other models down here, which they should, I've got ghost me with the other barrier. So that means that I can take control of the situation, and we can talk like civilized beings instead of dying like animals. Perfect. _

Model R came to a stop, hunched over in thirty feet of water. The ship was right above them, meaning each depth charge was landing to their sides and severely impacting the barrier.  
Cole! Do it now-the barrier can't take much more of these if you still want enough juice to lift the ship!  
Cole straightened up, stretched the model's hands upward to touch the bottom of the boat, and thought **rise**. The crew aboard the ship were thrown into a panic as they began to lift out of the water and tilt forward. In a couple of seconds, the deck was at a 45 degree angle, meaning an observer standing at the stern could easily see the ten tanks, five miniature mechas, and two models preparing to blast through the geofront's main dome.  
For a second, the world fell silent.  
"NOBODY SHOOT!" Cole's voice rang out over the model's speakers. "I just want to talk. If any of you attack, you'll be hitting your own men. I don't want anyone hurt, but I do mean business."  
Cole! What are you doing? This wasn't the plan!  
_I know. This way, we can buy time and save lives. When Leo comes back stronger, we can talk them into a retreat. Then we can open up peaceful communications and write a treaty! It's foolproof! _

The enemy Model R raised his rocket launcher and fired.  
_On second thought, maybe not._  
A blur shot up from one of the domes and slammed into the rocket, sending it spiraling harmlessly into the wall of the geofront.  
"HAHA! You thought you could outsmart us!" Guy yelled. "No one can outsmart robot! I finally got it working!"  
The other models took a step backwards as the Model R lowered his weapon. The Model Z touched a finger to the side of his head, and a voice blared over it's speakers.  
"It seems we are at an impasse. Very well done."  
That voice! It's Leo!  
"But there's no way that could be him!" Cole protested. "He's down in the cellar trying to fuse with the plot devi- I mean the origin."

Normally, you'd be right. But we have to take the parallel universe theory into account. If that's the case, then maybe they're alternate versions of us!  
Cole cleared his throat and clicked the mic on.  
"My name is Cole. I'm the pilot of Model R. We don't want any trouble."  
The pilot that sounded like Leo pointed the rocket launcher at the hangar dome.  
Not good… I don't think they want to talk, me.  
"What's to stop me from just exploding the hangar and killing you right here and now?" the other pilot asked.  
"Because there's no reason to fight!" Cole yelled.

Silence fell once again. "I know who you are." Cole continued. "Your name is Leo. You're good friends with Cole. You worry about pleasing other people. I know you because you're like my friend. You guys and us are two sides of the same coin. Why are we fighting? No one's given me a good reason to fight. Did Pheonix give you a reason? By all means, let's hear it."  
"Enough talk!" the Model R pilot snarled in a voice like Cole's own. "We were told that the other base was going to try to combine a model with the original dragon, and cause a catastrophic meltdown event that would destroy everyone's personal barriers."  
"Meaning?" Guy asked.  
"Everyone turns into Tang. And we all die."  
Guy palmed his face. "It's just like End of Evangelion all over again…"  
Urgh. Don't remind me. I think it goes without saying that we can't let that happen!  
"Oh yeah?" Cole yelped. "How are we supposed to do anything? Leo's down in the hole and we can't reach him, these guys are ready to murder us for the greater good, and I think that the government's going to silence any survivors. How could this get any worse?"  
NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!  
"Wha?" Cole said.  
NEVER SAY THINGS CAN'T GET WORSE.

-pop-


	9. Chapter 9

Cole looked up into the face of the clown and screamed.  
Behind the big red nose were two empty holes where eyes should be. One gloved hand moved toward him, holding a red balloon. Cautiously, Cole grabbed it. The clown smiled, pressed one finger to his lips in a 'quiet' gesture, and disappeared in a puff of confetti.  
The balloon grew to the size of a house, lifting Cole off the ground and passed the turrets of the magnificent castle he had been standing in front of. The sun overhead was completely white and growing rapidly larger as he moved upwards. Cole noted that it's rays felt cold on his skin.

And then he was floating in a nebula of white dots. Looking around him, he saw his other self, eyepatch glowing. He seemed to be drifting unconsciously.  
Cole sighed and palmed his face. _Great. I'm assuming that Leo tried to fuse with the dragon and we're all dead. Is this hell? Or heaven?  
_He reached out for his companion, and saw white light flash all around him… and then he was falling face first directly toward the castle courtyard that looked identical to the one he had just left. Cole crashed into the ground, his head going right through the paving stones.  
_Okay. If this was hell, I'm betting that would have hurt a lot. I'm guessing purgatory.  
_He used his arms to extricate himself, and sat upright on the ground. In front of him lay Ghost!Cole, eyepatch still glowing.

The same clown, only this time wearing a pirate hat and a monocle, was poking the unconscious char with one hand and holding a red balloon with the other. He looked up, empty eye holes meeting Cole's stare.  
"Hey." the clown said. "This guy won't wake up. Darn. He was supposed to come rescue you, though. Whatever."  
"Er? Who are you?" Cole said.  
"No one important." The clown said. "Just take the balloon and get out of here. The lights are the keys, kid."  
"Are you based off of my subconscious or something?" Cole asked.  
"Oh no. I've said too much and now HE KNOWS TOO MUCH! NOOO-" the clown cried as he disappeared in another burst of confetti.

Cole blinked and scooped up his other self, grabbing onto the balloon. At first, the balloon did nothing but wave in the non existent wind until Cole tied it around Ghost!Cole's wrist. Then it grew in size, pulling both of them off the ground. Cole looked up as the white "sun" grew larger again.  
_That's no sun-That's some kind of teleporter, and the nebula is the hub. So is each area a prison for someone who just died?  
_Ghost!Cole stirred, making a movement to rub his eye before he realized that he couldn't.  
"Darn. I'll have to have a glass one put in or something."

He was promptly tackled by Cole, who would have sent him crashing to the ground except for the fact that they were both floating.  
"Oh man, it's never been so great to see me! We're alive!"  
"Get off me, please. I missed you too, but I'm still sure that we're dead."  
"Dead?"  
"Well, maybe not all dead. I was all dead for a bit there, I think."  
"What's being all dead like?"  
"Imagine trying to sharpen a pencil and the point always breaks before it gets sharp enough. Now imagine this repeatedly happening for all of eternity."  
"That bad, huh?"  
"'Perfect state of existence' it isn't. More like horrible if you ask me. But that might because I sort of already died and we're getting off track here. What's your story?" "Well, I woke up in front of a castle that looked like yours. This clown guy with empty eye sockets gave me a balloon, and I floated into the sun and wound up here."

"Have you been hitting the rawst juice again, Cole?"  
"No! That all happened! And then I saw you here floating. I tried to get you, but that sent me to your castle."  
"I think I understand. If you're thinking of a person, their portal becomes a representation of them. Each one of these dots is a person who got tanged, I think. Maybe if we can get everyone out of their own little prisons, we can form a new society."  
"Or we can get everyone back to the real world and bring them back to life!"  
"By all means, fearless leader. Where do you plan to start, wise one?"  
"If we were in separate rooms, then that means something's trying to separate us from everyone else. I think we should try to find Guy."

As he said this, the image of their mentor appeared drifting behind them, eye tightly shut and mask floating freely. Both of them reached out toward the Yamask…

The red-cushioned seat was actually comfortable. Cole leaned back and sighed as he sank deeper into the theater chair. He felt like he could just stay forever, without any need to move at all-and then loud J-Pop began to play from the large speakers mounted up on either side of the large screen.  
"_Like an Angel/That has forsaken Sympathy/Rise up Young Boy and make yourself a Legend!"  
_The screen began to flash an incomprehensibly fast series of images, none of which seemed to have any connection to each other. Cole looked to his right to see his counterpart covering his ears and wincing.  
"GET HIS ATTENTION TO STOP THE SHOW! MY NON-EXISTENT EARS HURT!"

To the left was Guy, one eye unblinking and staring at the screen. Cole sighed and pulled himself up to a standing position and began to make shadow puppets in front of the projector beam. Guy's vision shifted as he turned around to gaze at his young charge, as the music faded and one image stabilized-that of Guy standing next to Cole and Model R.  
"Sorry to wake you, Guy, but this isn't real." Cole said. "I think that if we realize what we're doing to ourselves we can leave here. Do you know what's going on?"  
Guy made a gesture with his arm and all three of them were standing on the stage, with a full audience applauding them. Guy turned to the screen behind him, pointing to a diagram marked _Instrumentality: Or How I learned to stop worrying and love the Tang. _

Then the three of them were floating in the nebula once again, this time with a networked lattice of orange lines connecting the points of light. Cole held up his hand, and saw that a good portion of the lines came from him.  
"Finally. I'm just glad I don't have that seizure problem like some pokemon." Guy groused. "Good job, you two. We managed to make it back to the nexus. Those lines represent your relationships with the others in here. If we can get enough of them out of their self-generated prisons, we can break through this dream with our burning hot will! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!"  
Both Coles palmed their faces. "If you're wondering how I know what's going on, it's partly because I'm a scientist and partly because of End of Evangelion." Guy smirked. Ghost!Cole let out an involuntary shudder.  
"Anyway, where are we going to next?" Cole asked.  
"Simple." Guy said. "We go find the commander." Three lines, leading from each of them, glowed as the floating image of Pheonix appeared. They reached toward it…

and found themselves standing in the ruins of a scientific lab that looked to be recently trashed. In front of them was Pheonix, gripped in Model Z's bloodstained hand. Cole took a step forward, only for Guy to grab onto his arm.  
"Guy?" Cole said. "Let me go help the commander!"  
"If you get any closer to that thing, you might get it to attack you." Guy said.  
"That's what I want!" Cole shouted. "HEY METALHEAD! DOWN HERE!"  
The model turned toward them, eyes blank and white. It opened it's mouth and roared, only to be cut off by the steel girder smacking it on the back of the head. It turned in surprise to see Model Z smacking the club into one palm, with Leo standing atop it's shoulder.

"Did you think that he deserved to die?" Leo said in an even tone. "WELL, YOU WERE WRONG!" he shouted. "MY BOSS IS THE BEST IN THE UNIVERSE SWING!"  
The girder connected with the other model's arm, knocking Pheonix out of it's hands and sending him into a fall. Ghost!Cole lept forward on all fours and grabbed his boss out of midair, leaving them both sprawled over the pavement as the models continued to fight.  
Pheonix opened his eyes, acting almost surprised. "Why did you come back?" He asked.  
"It's like what Leo said. You're the best boss in the universe. We all care about you. Raoh doesn't hate you, Pheonix. He's come to accept who he is and bury the past. He wouldn't be here fighting if he hated you. He could have broken out of his cage and gotten his revenge if that's what he was after. Come on, get up. I think there's a way out of here." Ghost!Cole said.  
Pheonix extended his arm, and Ghost!Cole pulled him up. The prison faded to white, and the six found themselves back in the nexus.  
Pheonix stared at the nebula in the center of the nexus and turned back to Guy. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.  
"Yeah. It's the center of instrumentality." Guy responded.  
"Sorry, but not quite." Pheonix said. "If this were a full instrumentality, there would be a lot more people's lights in here. This is a localized one, as far as I can tell." "And that means?" Leo asked.  
"It means that we can just leave." Pheonix said. "I think. All we have to do is have a strong enough barrier to stop any outside influences."  
Everyone glanced over to Raoh. **I'm guessing you want me to get you guys out of here. I'd be happy to. Leo?**  
"Got it! Let's go and break through the dream!" Everyone stood close together as Raoh and Leo extended their barriers-

Cole found himself back in Model R, standing on top of the ship he had lifted earlier. Guy floated next to him, with a stunned look on his face. As Cole looked closely, he could see the ship's crew picking themselves back up from the floor, bleary-eyed and groaning. The other models pulled themselves up from the ground and stared at him.  
"What was that?" the one who sounded like Leo asked. "Don't tell me that instrumentality started and we all came back…"  
A bright light flashed, and a figure that looked like Model Z appeared above the lake. It was mostly grey, except for one black wing and several markings along it's face and arms. It's tail glowed with a deep blue from the large tubes that connected it to the back of the dragon's spine. Floating several feet above the surface of the water, it opened it's mouth and Leo's voice rang out.  
"Hey guys! Look what I can do now!" The fusion between Model Z and the ice dragon Kyurem raised both hands to extend it's barrier, and disappeared.

Sensors down in the base recorded the model moving over Mach 3 across the geofront, until it came to a direct stop in front of the models from another world.  
Leo grinned. "Is something wrong?" The other Model R looked up to the figure floating above it. "No. I guess not." the other model said. "If Instrumentality hasn't ended the world as we know it, then why were we sent here? What happens next?"  
"I'll tell you what happens next." Pheonix said into his microphone as the rest of the bridge staff began to regain consciousness. "Leo, you'd better warp the other models up to the surface. Then you can see for yourselves."  
Leo raised an eyebrow, but extended his barrier anyway. The observers on the surface of the geofront averted their eyes as the models began to glow, and then disappeared. Silence.  
One of the tank drivers yelled, "So what do we do now!"

With a flash, the four models and Guy appeared on the surface. In Leo and Guy's case, they were floating slightly above it. Except for the damage caused by the earlier battles, the city was unscarred.  
"I don't understand. What are we supposed to be looking for?" the other Cole said.  
"Look up." said Pheonix, claws tented.  
They did. Amazingly, what they were looking at was so large they could easily see it from the ground without needing the models and their enhanced vision.  
A truly colossal stone face loomed over the two planets, gradually moving downward toward them.

Guy was the first to break the silence. "Holy crap. I think I'm going to need much bigger guns."  
Leo couldn't move. _So this is it, then. Just when I thought I might be able to change something.  
_ _Whoever said you couldn't?_ Leo felt that pull in the back of his head again, and then he was in the white room of infinity. In front of him was Raoh as Model Z, looking just as confused as he was.  
**Would you believe me if I told you that it wasn't me this time?**  
_I would. Because I brought you here._

Leo and Raoh turned to see Kyurem standing atop their plane of thought.  
_I can change something. May I help you? _  
Leo sighed. "I don't see why not. How am I supposed to stop that giant face thing?"  
_Fly up there and deck it in the schnozz._  
Raoh blinked.  
_I'm being serious. With one of my parts returned, I'm far stronger than I'd be alone._  
"Then why am I even involved?" Leo said. "Why can't you just go and save the world?"  
_The failsafes on Model Z are designed to keep it from moving unless one of you pilots gives an order. As long as we're fused like this, I can't move on my own._

**Well, that's fantastic. Got any other ideas?**  
_Yeah. We fly up there and deck it in the schnozz. It'll work. I can give you advice and help you with some of the advanced abilities, but things are mostly up to you. __Leo, if you don't do something, everyone's going to die._   
**You know, you could always run away. With this teleport, you might be able to get the entire planet far enough away from here to guarantee safety for five or ten years.  
**_That would be more like two or three months, actually. These warships seek and destroy planets that have managed to surpass a threshold for energy production. It's extremely likely that our fusion has registered on their sensors._

Leo opened his eyes and saw the face looming above the city. The other models were extending their barriers, and Guy was putting the finishing touches on a truly gigantic gun.  
_I guess it's time to play the hero again. _"Cole!" Leo said. "Do you guys think you can give me some covering fire from down here?"  
Guy hoisted his finished gun and grinned. "We've got your back, Leo." he said. "You gonna fly up there and punch that thing in the schnozz?"  
"I'm going to try." Leo said. "It might have some sort of projectile weaponry, so have your barriers on standby. Good luck, all of you."  
Leo waved his hand theatrically, teleporting the other models back to their planet. He turned to Cole.  
"If I don't come back from this, I'm expecting you both to protect everyone, understand? You're both my friends, now. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."  
"Don't worry." Cole said. "We can't really fly, so we've got to stay down here. Things will be fine!  
"That's good." Leo said as he looked upward again. "The ice dragon talked to me. He said that this face destroys planets that have a really powerful energy source. If I destroy it, then we're safe. If it destroys me, then it should stop threatening us because the power source is the fused model. So I've got to go up there alone and do my best. You guys understand, right?" Cole and Guy nodded.

Leo reached out and activated his comlink inside the capsule at the base of the model's neck.  
"Pheonix?" he said. "I'm sorry if this isn't what you wanted. I know you care about all of us, but I don't really think there's a way to unfuse the model without releasing an even larger burst of energy. I'll do everything I can to come back safely-"  
"That reminds me a lot of what Raoh said before he got in the capsule fifteen years ago." Pheonix replied. "He knew what he was doing was dangerous, but he felt that it was worth the risk. Nothing I could say could convince him otherwise."  
"Are you trying to tell me not to go?" Leo said.  
"I'm trying to explain that you're risking the lives of yourself, my best friend, and an ancient alien by going up there." Pheonix said.  
"I know." Leo said. "Do you have any information on it's abilities or attacks?" "  
No. The dragon might, but I'm assuming that you've already talked to it. How do you pilots manage to make friends with these aliens so quickly?" Pheonix said.  
"I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with synchronization and sharing memories and emotions? We can crunch numbers later. I'm not asking for your permission. I am asking for your support." Leo said.  
"That I can do." Pheonix said. "I've contacted the military, and it's quite likely that my counterpart has as well. They can give some good covering fire. Anything else I should tell them?"  
"Yeah. No nukes." Leo said. "Doing that would wipe out all the electronics in this hemisphere."  
"I'm pretty sure they already know that." Pheonix said.  
"Just making sure." Leo said. "See you later, boss." Pheonix leaned back in his chair as the comlink cut off. He reached over to the keyboard and typed in NO NUKES PLS and hit enter. _Don't die on me, Leo. I know you'll protect him, Raoh._

Leo crouched on the ground, legs bending. He pushed himself off the ground as the model's wings began to glow, and he took off vertically, leaving a trail of white afterglow in his wake.  
Cole extended his barrier and Guy raised his gigantic gun. Thanks to his model's enhanced eyesight, Cole could see the other two models with barriers and weapons raised standing above their geofront.  
"Hey, me. Did you see any information about the other planets in the database when you were floating around in there?"  
Not really. I do know that they're a lot like me and Leo. But if they were attacking us because they were afraid and we fought back because we were afraid, that makes us not so different. We're not bad people, so they aren't bad either.  
"They tried to kill us all with their models."_  
_And what do you think we were going to do once we broke into their geofront? We probably would have done the exact same thing if we were in their situation. We've got no right to be pointing fingers. Now, all we can do is settle this fight and pray for Leo's victory. Get ready, me.  
Cole could barely make out the distant form of Leo's model, glowing faintly.

As the blue of the sky began to give way to black, Leo could get a better look at the alien. It looked like a long snake, covered in gigantic stone faces. Each one was easily a hundred miles across. Even with his brand new model upgrade, the size of the enemy made him feel small and insignificant.  
_Are you going to run away?_   
"No. That's not going to help anyone. Do you know what it's abilities are?"  
_I should, I've fought it before. It's the reason I came here and had myself split into three aspects, because it nearly killed me. It's got a really powerful barrier, lots of small beam weapons, and it can launch a bunch of smaller mooks in all directions. I do know that you could weaken it's barrier with one of your own, meaning the millitary and that psycho with the giant gun could hit it pretty good._   
"Let me guess. You tried to neutralize it's barrier when you first fought it, and then it blasted you in the face."  
_Exactly, but we've got three barriers now. I can use one, Raoh can use his, and energy levels indicate that you can use one._   
"Yeah, but it's nothing special. All I've done is use it to catch small objects- I don't have a large enough power level to do anything special. But maybe I can extend it enough to damage one of the faces! Can we communicate with the forces back on the planets?"  
_We should. Then we could bring down the barrier so all their attacks can hit it at once. Good luck, and I'll do what I can to advise you.  
_ "Got it."

Leo glared at the creature, as orange wings of light extended from the fused model's back.  
"Hey!" Leo yelled. "Down here! I'm the power source you're looking for!" There was no response. "Why won't it move?"  
_Probably because it can't hear you._   
"But it's got ears everywhere!"  
_We're in space. No air, no sounds.  
_ Leo palmed his face. "Fine. Will it notice a bunch of lightning hitting it in the face?"  
_That ought to do the trick._   
"Great. I just hope this goes through it's barrier."  
Leo launched a torrent of lightning from both palms that instantly crossed the distance to the creature and chained a small series of shocks between each face on the creature. It trembled, sparks of lightning crackling along it's entire length, and every eye opened on every mouth opened, and multiple swarms of mooks spread throughout the space between Leo and the creature.

Down on the planet, Cole stared at the swarm of enemies pouring out. "There's a target rich environment up there, Guy."  
Guy raised his gun and focused the sights on the cloud of mooks. "Agreed." he said as he pulled the trigger.  
Leo causally teleported out of the swarm of mooks, launching lightning with one hand and an endless stream of ice shards from the other.  
"This thing's power is incredible. I'm wondering why it's even bothering with these mooks at all!"  
_Simple. They're an expendable distraction so the creature can charge up it's own massive laser. That will bring its barrier down, but usually that laser is enough to take out any threat._  
Leo glanced over to the creature and it's glowing mouth, indicating a massive energy buildup. "Let me guess. That's how you got defeated last time. Your barrier wasn't strong enough to block it. And now because we aren't fused with Model R, our barrier is even weaker. But this time, you're not alone. GUY! COLE! FIRE EVERYTHING NOW!"  
_Well. This ought to be good._

Guy grinned savagely and pulled the trigger of his weapon, unleashing a beam of pure white light into the sky. Cole stared upward silently. He reached out, and raised the sniper cannon, aiming it toward the giant face's eye. His firing unleashed another beam of light, this one much smaller and more focused.  
All around them, a swarm of missiles launched from portable batteries and the whoomph of railguns from the navy ships off the coast. Turning to the other planet, Cole could see their military opening fire and the white contrails of intercontinental missiles streaking out into the blackness of space.  
_All of our might united-can it be enough to change our destiny? _he wondered.  
Leo felt the heat on the back of the model's neck. _I think you'd better move._ Leo quickly teleported a hundred miles out to one side, just in time to see the creature's beam impact with the one fired by Guy's barrier focus gun. The bright light from the ensuing reaction could easily be seen on the surface of both planets.

Pheonix made a gesture to tint the screen, the hint of a smile playing across his face. Leo stared into the heart of the blast.  
"How is this working at all? Lasers don't have mass and shouldn't even have collision with each other."  
_These beams are held in by barriers, though. It's actually a power struggle between an artificially generated barrier and a naturally produced one.  
_ "So when Guy runs out of power, the beam's either going to wipe out me or half the planet. But if we can manipulate the barrier surrounding the creature's beam, can we redirect it?"  
_Even better. We can absorb it.  
_ "Cool. What happens then?"  
_No idea. Let's find out!_

The combined model flashed over to the side of the face with the destroyed eye, and extended one barrier to the other side of the beam as Guy's beam began to fade. Leo grit his teeth as Raoh extended his barrier, curving the beam back around on the other side of the model. As the creature finished it's firing sequence, Leo extended his own barrier to finish curving the beam into a complete circle as the conventional arms fired by both millitaries hit the creature, creating a cloud of explosions. Leo reached out and grasped onto the ring of energy, letting his own barrier down. His model's eyes glowed red as it absorbed the energy, shattering the arm and wing made of ice and replacing it with another one with Model Z's characteristic black armor. With a thought, Leo teleported over to the writhing creature and raised his barrier against the creature's. Cole took aim and unleashed another shot aimed at the other eye. It slowed as it went through the weakened barrier, but still managed to do some considerable damage to the eye. Leo extended his barrier once more, and with one clean motion cut the creature's front face in half down the middle.

It roared silently as it's barrier fragmented into shards of energy as the combined model watched impassively.  
"Let me guess. Now it turns red and starts moving three times faster."  
_Close. Now it turns red and starts firing more lasers than one of those shrine maidens.  
_ "Great. So how do I beat it?"  
_Don't ask me! I never got past this part!_ _Alright, Leo. Concentrate. You got all that energy from the beam, can you use that to charge up the barrier?  
But then it would run out and that thing could keep firing. I need to meet it's attacks in midair-That's it! I remember when I fought Cole in training and he punched my punches to stop them. If I can counter it's beams with beams of my own, then maybe I can attack and defeat this thing!_  
The creature's other mouths opened and began charging energy. Leo extended his hands.  
"Raoh, I'd like you to launch our counterattack. Kyruem, can you try to block any shots that get through? I'd appreciate it."  
**No problem, buddy. I'll do the best I can.**  
_Ah, this brings me back. To be young again, ready to take on the world… Let's do this._

The creature unleashed its beams, forming a spectacle of light that forced Pheonix to dim the screen once again. Guy finished swapping his overloaded electronics out of his gun and fired again. Leo teleported toward the creature, Raoh unleashed a storm of beams of his own, and Kyuremraised his barrier. The storms of beams collided, creating another nebula of explosions.  
**We don't have enough beams! One's going to get through sooner or later!**  
Leo gritted his teeth and raised the model's arms above his head and spread his fingers. The two wings of light changed into a series of elongated arches with their tips facing toward the onslaught.  
"This enough beams for you?"  
**You bet.** The combined model launched a flurry of beams from each fingertip and wing. A glow appeared from behind once again as Guy's beam broke through the creature's defenses, showing a surge of light appearing in the newly-formed cracks around each individual face. Leo retracted his wings as the clash of beams stopped, and he dashed forward. The enemy barrier came back up, and the combined barriers of the models and Leo were unable to restrain it this time.

As Leo concentrated, he saw a flash of light and felt himself floating next to Kyurem, who had one hand grasped around Model Z's leg. The ice dragon nodded and threw Leo and Raoh toward the creature as hard as it could, overwhelming the barrier with kinetic impact. Each face began to fire in a much sparser pattern, as Leo and Raoh raised their barriers once more-only for Leo to feel his connection to the model cease, leaving him floating inside the capsule. Raoh reached back and pulled the capsule off of his back, and threw it forward as the swarm of beams collided with the model. The capsule drifted gently toward the cracked and split face of the creature. Leo felt the glass ripple under his hands as the creature engaged what was left of it's barrier. He reached out and extended his own, creating a perfect pattern of hexagons lining the glass as a voice filled his head.  
_Statement: I am. Query: Who are you?_  
Leo opened his eyes. "I'm Leo. I'm the pilot of Model Z, and one of the protectors of that planet there. If there are any more of you out there who want some who want to keep trying to wipe us off the map, tell them to bring it on. We'll keep fighting for as long as we have to."  
_That's just what I wanted to hear. Congratulations. You win._ The faces curved into a semblance of a smile.  
And then there was darkness.

Cole felt his chest lurch as he saw the creature disappear into a chain reaction of explosions. He scanned the sky desperately as the crowd that had emerged from the underground shelter began to cheer and applaud the victory. Guy lowered his gun, going through the motions of pulling out the charging coils halfheartedly. Pheonix watched his screen with an unblinking gaze as the bridge crew gathered in silence around him. Cole was the first to see them returning-Model Z grasping Kyurem in one arm and Leo's capusle in the other as they fell back, an orange barrier shielding them as friction worked it's magic.

The next day, April 24th

Pheonix leaned back and turned his swivel chair around to face the group of technicians standing at attention.  
"You said you had some sort of status report?"  
"Yes sir." the bridge commander said. "Leo's been asleep ever since we pulled him out of the capsule. Medical looked him over and couldn't find anything wrong."  
"He's probably just tired from all this. He'll be feeling better in no time. Next."  
"Yes, boss. The original Cole's back in his old body again. We asked him if he wanted a new eye, but it's going to take a couple of months to synthesize. We could have taken one from the other clones, but-"  
"I would have said no. I'm assuming that he likes his eyepatch?"  
"A little too much, if you ask me. Sir. Moving along, the other geofront is now open to two-way communications. I believe we've taken the first step toward peace. Also, Model Z has become inactive following our retrieval of it after it's return from space. It's become completely unresponsive."  
"That is most unfortunate. We'll see what we can do about it once Leo's awake."  
"That's all we have for now, sir. Some of the men have been talking, sir."  
"About what? If they've got a problem, they know to take it up with me."  
"It's nothing like that, sir. It's just that some of the men have been wondering if we're going to infiltrate the government and find the persons responsible for the scenario."  
"Tell the men that it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. As soon as we have two functioning pilots and models, we're going in there and getting some answers. I want every hacker we have trying to find any security breach so we can get in there as peacefully as possible. If we have to storm the capitol, we will. I think you'd better get busy."

"Yes sir." the assembly said.

Pheonix continued walking on his own as he entered the hangar. He glanced up at the two models resting in their tanks at the end of the room. Kyurem had returned to it's cave far below the geofront, and was resting there peacefully. Pheonix had tried to talk things through with it, but had only received the terse reply that there would be other threats to the two worlds, and that he needed him to stabilize the two models. According to him, that prevented the threat of absorption from a too high synch ratio in theory. The synch researchers were literally ecstatic. But Pheonix found no joy from the results of their battle.  
_So we beat a giant space monster._ He thought bitterly to himself. _Now we can let Cole join the fun with a higher synch. And then there's the clone, who was this close to killing himself because I told him the truth. And what's supposed to make me want to keep living? The promise of answers from the government? We probably will come away empty-handed again, just like the last time we asked them for an explanation. In the end, all that's left is the chance to keep fighting. No one ever asked me if I wanted to fight. _Behind him, a vent cover ripped from it's hinges and fell to the floor with a clang. _That's the thing that I think about the most-the loneliness. I knew Raoh better than anyone else did and I let all this happen to him. Well, he protected Leo. But will he ever wake up again?  
_The figure poked it's head out of the vent. "Hey. A little help? These vents are a bit smaller than I remember."  
Pheonix looked over his shoulder to see a familiar grin on a Raichu's face. He reached out and grasped it's extended paw and pulled his friend out of the vent.

Leo opened his eyes to see a double image of Cole standing over his bed in the apartment. The one on the right wore an eyepatch and a warm smile. The one on the left looked slightly nervous.  
"How are you doing, Leo? You fell all the way back from space, so I'm a bit suprised you're already awake!" the one with the eyepatch said.  
"Oh. Good morning, Cole-and Cole?" Leo asked.  
"He got his old body back. They're making him another eye, but it'll be a couple of weeks." Cole said.  
Leo smiled. "Hey. So how you been doing? I don't exactly know what to call you."  
Clone!Cole let down his guard and smiled. "I'm not planning on changing my name, Leo. I'm going to go walk the earth and help those in need. Like Kenshiro! And plus, if I ever get in any trouble, I can just blame it on you!" he said, elbowing Cole.  
"I suppose I should be honored." Cole said. "Good luck to you. I hope you find what you're looking for."  
"I'll leave you two guys by yourselves." said Clone!Cole. "Talk things over." He left, the door closing behind him.

Leo sat upright in his bed, thinking. "So what happens next?" he asked.  
"Well, Pheonix is planning on storming the capitol and getting some answers by force if we have to." Cole said. "We got Raoh back in his old body."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. Pheonix had kept it on ice this whole time. He's a weird guy."  
"Well, we're all a bit weird down here. Have you seen Guy?"  
"Only once or twice. He's been awfully busy since Pheonix promoted him back to subcommander."  
"Didn't the council object to that happening?"  
"The council packed up as soon as the other models breached the geofront. I think that we're on our own now."  
Leo pulled his sheets off his lower body and began to move to the side of the bed. Cole was instantly by his side and grabbed onto his arm.  
"Hold on." Cole said. "Don't get up just yet. You got bashed around pretty good in the capsule there, and you've been overworking yourself. I'll come tell you when it's time to invade the capitol." Leo laid back down as Cole draped the blanket back over him.  
"Cole?" Leo asked. "Something funny happened when I defused the creature's barrier. When my barrier came into contact with it's barrier, it talked to me."  
"Strange. What did it say?"  
"It asked me who I was. I told it, and then it congratulated me and said that we won. I have no idea what it meant."  
"I'll be sure to tell Guy. My first guess would be to check for mental contamination, but medical already did that. You're clean, Leo, otherwise you'd still be there instead of in your own room. Try to get some rest." Cole reached out and turned off the light.

The rustle of papers and the cries of pokemon could be heard as a large crowd of panicked-looking government members left the capitol building through the back exit. Alfred, a Lucario whose fur was tinged with silver, sat calmly at his desk as the ground began to shake. He knew that the geofront's models were coming for answers. And he knew that he could have run, leaving them with a wrecked building and the tormenting sense of not knowing why things were. But he was tired of waiting silently in the background. Finally, he would face up to what he had done. If the self-appointed judges found him guilty, then who was he to protest? They were the ones with the giant robots.

A shadow appeared on the wall, cast by a brightly burning tailflame. Pheonix strode confidently through the door, reached out for a chair, and sat down, feet resting on the politician's desk. A loud cracking noise announced Model R lifting the roof off of the building and peeking it's head inside. Guy sat atop the model's shoulder, holding a video camera in his tail thingy. Leo watched from a screen mounted above his bed, breath held. Pheonix placed the copy of the scenario on the desk with a dramatic flourish.  
The Lucario smiled. "I wrote that, you know." he said.  
"Why?" was Pheonix's response.  
"It was to ensure the future of our world." The Lucario said. "Everything turned out perfectly. If you're wondering how we knew this was the right thing to do, then I'll tell you. A messenger from the future arrived with information about the destruction of our world by the creature mentioned. After several years of planning, I was assigned to draft this scenario to ensure our survival. Do with me what you like. But nothing you do will change the fact that I'm the reason that you all are still alive. Congratulations. You won."

The lucario sat back, face blank. Pheonix stood up, and climbed onto the desk. His eyes met with the bureaucrat's, and then he turned away.  
"Leave as quickly as you can.' Pheonix said. "We'll be taking this building now. Tell the rest of the government that times are changing." The lucario began to move for the door. "One more thing." said Pheonix. "Thank you for being prepared. If what you say is true-"  
"It is, I assure you."  
"Then you truly deserve my thanks. Go on and tell everyone you see that you saved the world."

With that, the office door slammed shut and Pheonix left on Model R's hand.  
And a new day dawned on the Fortress City.

THE END


	10. Author's Note

First off, I'd like to say thanks for reading through the entire story. Seriously. Even if you didn't, thanks for the page views! This is just some context and background information, so you don't have to read it. But if you're interested, feel free to go ahead.

This is the first multi-chapter story I've ever written. I worked on it during National Novel Writing Month 2013, forgot about it for a few months, and finally finished and released it. It's quite short, contains some disjointed plot twists, and has lots of amateur mistakes. It makes me feel a bit embarrassed, but any fanfiction is a rough draft and any practice will help me get better. I hope.

The story and it's plot is one long extended love letter to Nobody Dies, a fantastic Evangelion fanfic that reimagines it as a Super Robot show. It's ongoing reboot can be found at s/9033037/1/Rebuild-of-Nobody-Dies-One-Point-Zero  
I definitely recommend you read it.

Also, some of the characters and their names are references to other fanfiction/fancomics I've read. I considered changing them, but I had grown attached to them at that point. There's also a couple of other references to these stories as well.


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